


The Song Remains The Same

by GenKay



Series: Born Under a Bad Sign [2]
Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood and Gore, Demonic Possession, Gen, Guilt, Obsession, Revenge, Some Humor, Suspense, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29336025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenKay/pseuds/GenKay
Summary: He'd learned the value of mercy from Miyagi-Do. And then he'd learned the cost of it. Now he knew that some sins were too great to be forgiven.
Series: Born Under a Bad Sign [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154726
Comments: 27
Kudos: 45





	1. Monster

“R-Robby?” Carmen’s voice was a mixture of hope and nervousness when she opened the door. “H-hello...”

Miguel got up from the couch, on his guard right away. He regretted letting his mother answer the door. If he’d seen that asshole on the other side, he’d have slammed it in his face.  He’d have done it anyway, but for Carmen throwing him a warning glance.

“Are you here to see Johnny?” She asked. 

“Sure.” Robby’s voice replied, as dry as ever. “Let’s go with that.”

_ Like Sensei would ever want to see you again,  _ Miguel wanted to say. But he held his tongue. 

Because the truth was that there was probably nothing that Johnny wanted more. Nobody had seen Robby since the day of that fateful tournament three months ago, but Johnny had never given up hope. 

Miguel wished he could share his Sensei’s feelings on the matter.

Robby’s kick had made his knee bend sideways and he’d felt a sickening pop before the rush of pain. He’d won the tournament… the only one to win twice in a row in the last decade… but he hadn’t felt like a winner. They’d rushed him to the hospital before he could even accept his trophy and both Johnny and Daniel had worriedly waited there to hear the prognosis. 

It was a torn ACL… and that had spelled the end of his karate career. 

Not due to the injury itself… Miguel was sure he could recover from that the same way he’d recovered from the broken back. But this had been the last straw for Carmen. Miguel had gotten hurt too much and too often… and this time, she was not backing down. 

They hadn’t gotten the news about Robby until much later, however. 

While everyone else was at the hospital for Miguel, Kreese had attacked Robby. He’d started beating him bloody right there in the parking lot until a bunch of bystanders were forced to intervene and restrain him while Robby had run. And now Kreese was in prison for assaulting a minor - where he belonged - and Robby was in the wind.

_ Where he belongs,  _ Miguel had said. 

And ofcourse, Johnny had disagreed. Once again, he’d blamed himself for failing his son. For not being there when Robby needed him. Never mind that this was the path Robby had chosen and these had been the consequences he’d deserved…

“Nice place.” Robby commented, looking around.

“Yes, we decided to get a bigger place once we moved in together.” Carmen told him. “Johnny would love it if you could come and live with us.”

“Really?” Robby raised his eyebrows. “So you already have a room ready for me?”

Carmen bit her lip, unable to answer the question. They hadn’t actually discussed the matter yet. 

“W-where have you been living so far?” Carmen asked instead. 

“Take a guess.” Robby replied. 

As if the answer wasn’t obvious. 

Robby’s clothes were beyond dirty. Whatever their original color had been, it was now lost in a myriad of brown, grey and black. His hair was long and greasy. His face smudged. And he smelled terrible - like trash and piss and something else. In fact, how Carmen could stand so close to him without showing her disgust, Miguel had no idea. 

“Would you like something to eat?” Carmen asked. 

“I’m good.” Robby returned. 

Miguel doubted it. The guy was skinny. Way skinnier than before. He’d clearly not had a decent meal in a while. 

“Miggy, tell yaya to put down another place for dinner.” Carmen said anyway.

Loath as he was to leave her alone with this guy, Miguel got up to obey anyway. He didn’t think he had anything to worry about… after all, Keene was done and defeated already. Besides, he’d beaten Keene before and he could do it again. 

He didn’t have to stay gone for long, thankfully. 

“So… you got a bun in that oven?” He heard Robby say when he got back.

“Yes...” Carmen said, a little abashed. “You are going to be a big brother and Johnny would love to have you as a part of this child’s life.”

His mother was nervous, Miguel realized. And with good reason. No doubt, after everything Robby had done to Miguel, what she really wanted to do was tell him to get lost. To never show his face around any of them again. But another part… one that loved and understood Johnny and one that wanted to be a bigger person, wanted to love and accept that lost and hurt kid. 

Except Robby didn’t look lost. Or hurt. If he’d shown up here contrite or afraid… but no. He was still oozing his usual smug confidence. 

“Yeah… I’m sure he was thinking about me when he was pounding you into the mattress.” Robby snarked, making Carmen blush.

“Watch it.” Miguel couldn’t help but speak up. He didn’t want to ruin this for Sensei… but if this was the attitude Robby was taking, there was probably nothing to ruin here anyway.

“He speaks!” Robby said, grinning. “I thought someone might’ve...” 

He stopped, looking at Miguel more closely. 

“Miggy, it’s okay.” Carmen intervened quickly. “We all want to move past the past here, don’t we? Robby?”

“Sure...” Robby’s eyes never left Miguel. “Already past it all. Got nothing but the future on my mind.”

The words were right… but the tone…

“I’m sorry… but there is something different about you. Something… wrong.” Robby said, frowning curiously at Miguel.

Was that a taunt? Was he trying to goad him into picking a fight? If so, he was going to be disappointed. 

Miguel just shrugged in response and Robby’s face cleared like he just found the answer. 

“You dirty dog… you fucked Sam, didn’t you?” He said in an awed voice. “Damn… smells like you really went to town on her.”

Miguel felt himself flushing red with humiliation and apparently that was the last straw for Carmen.

“Robby! That’s enough.” She said, sharply. “I want you and Johnny to reconnect, but I won’t allow that kind of language in my house. And I certainly won’t allow any more fighting between you and Miguel.”

Robby blinked in surprise, apparently taken aback.

“Fighting? No, no, no, no….” He reassured her. “I didn’t come here to fight. I came here for Miguel...”

Miguel glanced at his mom to see that she was just as confused as him. 

“Actually, I came here because I thought Miguel would still be a virgin. I was looking for a virgin.” Robby explained. 

“Why?” Miguel asked, unsure why he was indulging this insanity. 

“Well, there is only one thing virgins are good for. But if you are not one anymore...” He snapped his finger as another thought occurred to him. “Oh… shoot. Guess Sam’s no good now either.”

He was insane. Miguel could tell he and his mom had the same thought going through their heads. Robby had gone insane… and dangerous.

“Well... guess I’ll have to make do...” He seemed to think for a moment and then his eyes landed on Carmen. “Oh… you’ll do just fine.”

Carmen looked a little scared… “I’m not...”

“Not you.” Robby rolled his eyes. “That thing inside you. I’ll be taking that.”

_ The baby? _

Before he knew it, Miguel found himself standing between Robby and his mom, his arms raised in defense. 

“Stay away from her.” He snarled. 

Robby shook his head in disappointment. “You never learn, do you? When has -?”

He flinched suddenly, like he was in pain. He closed his eyes like he was trying to push it down. 

“You be quiet...” Robby mumbled under his breath. 

_ Talking to himself? _

But that didn’t matter. This was Miguel’s chance. 

He swung his fist and it landed square on Robby’s jaw. His head snapped to the side and a trickle of blood leaked out from his lip… but other than that, it didn’t look like he noticed at all. 

“I picked a strong one.” Robby mumbled. 

_ So I hurt him after all.  _

“And don’t you forget it.” Miguel warned. 

His eyes opened and for a moment, they looked pitch black. But then the ink cleared and they were back to their usual green.

“I wasn’t talking about you.” Robby said, rearing his arm back.

Miguel raised his arms to block, but the blow hit him like a truck. The air went out of him in a whoosh and he found himself flying backwards until he slammed into the wall. Then he fell to the ground, limp and powerless. 

“MIGUEL!” Carmen screamed, rushing over. 

_ What the hell just happened? _

His whole body felt numb and he looked down in horror to see white bone sticking out of his arm. And then came the pain, like fire running through his entire body. 

“Miguel! You okay? Miguel!” Carmen was hysterical. “Talk to me!”

“Dios mio!” Yaya screamed, as the commotion drew her from the kitchen. 

Dimly and distantly, Miguel saw Robby standing there with a soft smile playing on his lips. And he felt a chill of terror go through him as his attacker advanced. 

“Stay back!” Carmen screamed, whirling around on him. She pulled out her phone from her pocket, her fingers fumbling with the lock. “Stay away from him! Or I’m calling the cops!”

Robby was on her faster than Miguel could’ve imagined. One hand twisted her arm until she dropped the phone and the other grabbed her by the neck. 

“I told you already.” He almost whispered to her. “I’m not here for him anymore.”

He twisted her neck with a sickening crack and Carmen’s whole body went limp, held up only by Robby’s hand on her throat.. 

“MOM!” Miguel screamed. 

_ Move…  _ He begged his body.  _ Move. You need to help her. _

Robby wasn’t done. His other hand plunged into Carmen’s stomach, digging, looking for something…

“There it is.” He said, pulling out a blood covered hand and letting Carmen drop lifeless to the floor. 

He was holding something up… something small and red between his thumb and his forefinger. 

“You monster….” Miguel couldn’t contain his horror. “You fucking monster...”

Robby gave him a happy smile.

“Well, this has been fun.” He said, grinning. “We should do this again sometime. See you around.”

Without a backwards glance at the carnage he’d wreaked, Robby sauntered out of the house. 

* * *

Daniel rushed through the hospital lobby and the corridors, desperately looking... searching… 

There he was… sitting in the waiting area, pale and still as a marble statue.

“Johnny!” He was by his old rival’s side the next moment. “I just heard… Sam told me… tell me it’s not true. Tell me that Robby didn’t...”

It didn’t seem like he heard him. He kept staring straight ahead, eyes dead and empty. 

“Johnny, c’mon!” Daniel tried again. “Tell me what happened?”

“It was supposed to be a boy...” Johnny’s voice was as dead as his eyes. “I was going to have a son… his brother...”

“Robby wouldn’t do that!” Daniel needed that answer here. “Robby would never do something like that. Not on purpose.”

“He did!” An accented voice spoke in halting English. Rosa Diaz’s voice was even and her eyes were red… she’d clearly already cried all her tears. “Robby Keene killed my daughter… he killed my grandchild inside of her… and he hurt Miguel again...” She was shaking, unable to cope with the horror. “And he did it all with a smile on his face. It was like he was the devil himself.”

Daniel slumped down on the chair, too horrified to say anything. And beside him, Johnny Lawrence broke down in tears…


	2. Intervention

Bobby Brown had always considered himself a worldly man. Sure he’d done a few bad things in his life… but he’d seen a lot more. Alcoholics, criminals, predators, addicts… he’d seen humans fall and pick themselves up again. He knew that they were capable of great evil and great good and few things shocked him anymore. 

This was one of them.

He could remember being this chilled to the bone once before… but this situation was nothing like that. And the Diaz family needed his support and guidance right now… so that’s what he had to focus on.

“I’d like to pray for your mother’s soul if you like.” He offered Miguel.

The boy looked broken. He was broken both physically and mentally - his arm was in a cast and he had a few cracked ribs, but that was nothing compared to the anguish he must be going through inside. 

“I’ll pass.” Miguel refused coldly. 

“Mijo!” His grandmother spoke up from beside him. And then went on to say something in spanish that Bobby didn’t get. 

“Yeah?” Miguel scoffed. “Can your God tell me why this happened to mom? Can he bring her back? Because otherwise, I got no fucking use for him.”

It wasn’t an uncommon reaction - questioning why something bad had happened. And raging against the heavens for allowing it…

“I understand your anger, Miguel.” Bobby said, comfortingly. “But this is where you need your faith the most.”

“If you say something about mysterious ways, so help me God...”

“I won’t.” Bobby replied. “Miguel, faith isn’t about expecting God to fix things. It’s about finding strength when everything’s broken. The strength to keep moving forward.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Miguel said, tonelessly. “I know exactly how I’m gonna move forward.”

That seemed to upset Rosa. She launched into another tirade in spanish, arguing with Miguel over something, but Miguel kept stubbornly shaking his head. Desperate, she turned to Bobby for help.

“Talk sense to him.” She pleaded. “He wants to go after Robby. Get revenge.”

_ And who can blame him?  _ Was Bobby’s first thought. But his job was to dissuade Miguel from that path.

“You don’t have to worry about Robby.” He told the kid. “The cops will catch him.”

“Yeah… because they’ve been so useful so far.” Miguel scoffed. 

“You think you can do a better job of finding him?” 

“He mustn’t.” Rosa interjected. “I can’t lose you too. That boy… he’s devil.”

Something about the way she said it made Bobby nervous, but he pushed that feeling down. 

“Robby has gone too far.” He agreed. “But no one is beyond redemption.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Rosa argued. “Boy was strong… too strong. He did this to Miguel with one hit. He snapped Carmen’s neck like it was nothing… Miguel, if you go after him...”

There it was. That horrible feeling of deja-vu again. 

“I thought… it was a fight...” Bobby wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“He’s been training, obviously.” Miguel said, confidently. “But I’ll catch up to that stinking bastard...”

“Stinking?”  _ Let this just be a turn of phrase.  _

“Smelled like crap.” Miguel’s mouth twisted in disgust. “Looked like it too… like piss and trash and - ”

“-rotten eggs?” 

“Sure, that too.”

_ It can’t be true… it mustn’t be true… _

“Miguel… uh...” Bobby had to know. “Were his eyes black?”

There was the slightest change in Miguel’s expression. One of surprise… and fear. But then the anger was back. 

“No - they were green. Like always.” 

“No… I mean all of it.” Bobby clarified. “Did they ever turn completely black?”

“No they didn’t.” Miguel replied immediately. “I don’t know who told you that, but that was just a trick of light.”

Bobby nodded slowly and let the subject go.  The kid wasn’t ready to face it. And who could blame him? Bobby wasn’t ready to face it either… and as he left the hospital, he hoped and prayed that he was wrong. 

“This foe is beyond us.” A priest he knew once had told him. “We need to call professionals.”

“Doctors.” Bobby had nodded in agreement.

The disease was unlike anything Bobby had ever seen. The patient had been tied to the bed and still needed four people to hold him down. His skin had been sallow and covered in dark veins. His eyes had been pitch black and his whole body had contorted unnaturally. And the room had been thick with the smell of brimstone. 

No wonder the simple-minded fools had mistaken it for a demonic possession.

But for some reason, his friend had agreed with them. 

“Doctors can’t help him.” He’d said. “But I know someone who can...”

Bobby had been vehemently opposed to the idea. He was not going to be one of those conmen pastors doing sham exorcisms to bilk people of their hard-earned money. Nor was he going to deny someone proper medical care and advise useless faith-healing. But the family had been adamant and he’d been helpless. 

And the next day, the man was mysteriously back to normal. 

His friend had never actually told him all the details. Whenever Bobby had asked, the guy had just smiled cryptically and said that it was better not to know. He had given Bobby the number though… that of his friend who’d helped the guy. He’d told him that if there was ever something so wrong that Bobby couldn’t explain it, he should call the guy for help.

And Bobby figured that this definitely qualified. 

A girl picked up the phone on the third ring to take his request. 

“Uh… can I ask who’s calling?” She asked after hearing him out.

“I’m a friend of a friend.” Bobby replied. “Look… can you just get him on the phone?”

“I’m sorry sir, I can’t.” The girl replied. “Pastor Jim Murphy died over ten years ago.”

* * *

It was probably nothing, Bobby told himself. 

Humans were designed to see patterns and connections where none existed. To find a deeper meaning to evil because evil being mundane scared the bejesus out of them. They were creatures vulnerable to such flaws and even knowing that didn’t protect them from it. 

But on the other hand… if there was something to this… he couldn’t exactly do nothing, could he?

“How many times do I have to drag you out of this hole?” He asked. 

“Who asked you to?” Johnny slurred. “Just leave me here. It’s better that way for everybody.”

This wasn’t Bobby’s fight and it wasn’t one he could win anyway. But Johnny Lawrence could. In fact - whether Bobby was right about it or not - Johnny was probably the only one who could stop things from getting worse. 

“Get your act together, Johnny.” Bobby said as sternly as he could. “This is no time to wallow in drunken self-pity.”

Johnny glared up at him with a baleful look. And then took another swig of his cheap liquor to make a point.

Bobby sighed, tired already and sat down beside him. 

“Do you want to lose what little you have left?” He asked. 

“What do I have left?” Johnny mumbled. “Miguel hates me. And Carmen… and the baby...”

“And Robby?”

The very mention of the name seemed to hurt him. 

“I never stood a chance there from the start.” Johnny replied. “I thought… this kid was going to be my second chance… a chance to do things right from the start...”

“So that’s what Robby was to you? Some kind of project?” Bobby spat, disgusted. “You screw up one kid, but so what? Ditch that loser and start over with a new one. No wonder he hates your guts.”

“That’s not fair.” Johnny’s voice was shaking. “I tried with Robby… I kept trying to make things right...”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Bobby snapped. “You couldn’t even show up for one measly meeting. You swore you’d protect him from Kreese, but where were you when Kreese was beating the crap out of him?”

“Miguel… he needed me...”

“Your son needed you more.” Bobby was done with his excuses. “And you were never there for him. You don’t get to say you tried if you couldn’t even do that much.”

It hurt Bobby to do this. He’d never liked kicking a man when he was down. But Johnny Lawrence was stubborn and slow and this was the only way to light a fire under him. 

“Fine, Bobby. It’s all my fault.” Johnny said, morosely. “If I had been a better father to Robby, he wouldn’t have turned psycho and killed the woman I loved… so that’s all on me. Is that what you want to hear?”

“No - I want to hear what you are gonna do about it.” Bobby replied. “Are you finally ready to get your head out of your ass and be the father Robby needs you to be?”

Johnny gave him a hollow laugh. “He doesn’t need a father. He needs a straitjacket and two doses of meds day and night...”

Bobby sighed. He’d have to choose his words very carefully here. He knew that Johnny would never believe him if he told him what he thought… feared. Heck, he didn’t know if he actually believed it himself. 

“Johnny… Robby is lost in darkness.” Bobby weighed each word carefully. “A monstrous evil has taken over his soul… He is possessed by hatred… And you need to save him from that. I think you are the only one who can.”

He got a scornful look for his trouble. “Dude, I told you I don’t get your religious bullshit.”

Bobby Brown prayed for patience. 

_ Ofcourse. What was I thinking, trying to be subtle with this guy? With Johnny Lawrence you need to be as subtle as a jackhammer. _

“Alright, fine. Let me lay this out for you.” He said instead. “Right now, Miguel is planning to go after Robby for revenge. And I don’t think there is anything anyone can say to convince him to give it up. So if he does find Robby, either your son kills your student or your student kills your son. Are you okay with that?”

“He’s not gonna find him.” Johnny shook his head. “Robby’s too good at not being found. I tried already and...”

“And then what? Miguel spends the rest of his life obsessing over Robby?” Bobby countered. “And what about Robby? He’s clearly mixed up in some bad shit. How long before that ends up killing him? Are you okay with that too?”

“He… made his choice.” Johnny muttered. 

“If that’s what you think, then maybe you should just stay here and drink yourself to death.” Bobby snapped. 

“What do you want me to do?” Johnny pleaded. “I don’t even know where to start looking for him.”

“Figure it out.” Bobby stood up, disgusted. “Either figure out a way to be the dad that Robby needs or just stay here and rot. Either way, I don’t care anymore. I’m done trying to help you. Figure your own shit out.”

That was harsh, Bobby knew. Bordering on cruel. He almost cracked as he walked away, but somehow managed to keep his cool and avoided looking back. Because he probably knew Johnny Lawrence better than anyone else in the world and the one thing he knew for certain was that the man never backed down from a challenge.

* * *

Miguel’s hands shook a little as he packed his bag carefully. 

Hawk had come through for him after all. Miguel didn’t know where his friend had managed to score the gun and he didn’t care to find out. All that mattered was that he now had a way to take Robby out once and for all. 

And he needed it too. The way Robby had beat him without even trying… and now with a broken arm and broken ribs, he knew he was never going to stand a chance without some added advantage. Sure Johnny might think that guns were for pussies, but if it could help him put that monster down, Miguel didn’t care about being a badass. 

Handling it was a different story though. His mom had always impressed upon him how dangerous guns were. And all the instructional videos he’d seen online had made him paranoid about it accidentally going off. He also wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle it one-handed. So for now, he’d kept it loaded and wrapped up at the bottom of his bag and hoped that the safety being on would be enough to keep him from blowing his own ass off. 

The knock on the door almost made him jump out of his skin.

“Sorry...” Johnny apologized as he came in. “Heard you were discharged from the hospital.”

“Yeah?” Miguel couldn’t help but be surly. “Hot gos around your watering hole?”

“I guess I deserved that.” Johnny nodded. “I should’ve been here sooner.”

Miguel huffed and went back to packing his bag.

_ It doesn’t matter that he’s late. He’s here, isn’t he? That’s all that matters.  _

_ No… why he is here matters too. _

“Hey, you know how it works with me, right?” Johnny said, walking over to stand beside him. “Something bad happens, I give up and lose myself in drink and then someone kicks my ass back into the fight again...”

“Sorry Sensei. Can’t do that for you this time.” Miguel said bitterly. “Got my own shit to deal with.”

“Yeah… you don’t have to worry about that.” Johnny smiled. “Someone already kicked my ass pretty good.”

Miguel ignored him and kept stuffing his clothes inside the bag.

“Rosa told me you were planning on doing something stupid.” Johnny continued. 

“And you’re here to talk me out of it?” Miguel turned to look at him. “Are you doing this for me or for Robby?”

“For both of you.” Johnny replied. “This road you are about to go down on… it’s not gonna end well Miguel.”

“Don’t you get it? I don’t care.” Miguel didn’t know whether to be angry or sad. “Things have already ended badly. This is not something I can just let go. I can’t “move on” from this.”

“I won’t ask you to...”

Miguel shook his head in disappointment. “Why would you do anything for Robby anyway? After what he did?” Miguel asked. “I thought you loved mom. And that was your son he killed. How can you forgive him after that?”

“I don’t...” Johnny shook his head. “I can’t forgive him… But Miguel, just because Robby became a monster doesn’t mean you have to change who you are...”

“Yeah… I do.” Miguel replied. “Sensei… I kept trying to be the good guy here and he kept hurting me. Over and over again. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t going to matter in the long run… that he’ll never be able to take anything that really counted. But he did. He took mom. I can’t be the same dope who keeps showing mercy and keeps expecting different results.”

“Your mom wouldn’t have wanted that.” Johnny told him sadly. 

“Mom’s dead.” Miguel said. “What she would’ve wanted doesn’t matter anymore.”

“There is a right way to do this.” Johnny said. “I’m not asking you to forgive him or give him a pass. He should pay for what he did… and he will. We can turn him in. Make him face trial...”

Miguel scoffed and shook his head. “Prison’s too good for him.”

“You don’t mean that.” Johnny’s voice was sad. “You know what he has been through. Why he is the way he is...”

That old load of crock again. Poor abandoned Robby… all alone… no one to give a shit about him… what choice did he have other than turning evil?

But Miguel didn’t have the energy for that argument. 

“Why does it matter?” He said instead. “It’s not the dog’s fault if it catches rabies, but a rabid dog still has to be put down, right? That’s what Robby is… and that’s why I need to put him down. You either help me or get out my way.”

Johnny sighed… and then stood up a little straighter. 

“Alright… so what’s the plan here?” He asked. 

Miguel looked at him, confused. Hadn’t he told him already? Find Robby and kill him. 

“You are packing your bag… but where exactly are you going?” Johnny asked. “Do you have any leads?”

“I’ll figure it out on the way.” Miguel replied sullenly. 

“On your way where?” Johnny asked. “Are you gonna look for him in LA? You think he’s still hiding here somewhere? Naah… he probably skipped town, right? So how did he do that? Did he take the bus or did he steal a car? Which direction did he go in? And how far? What’s the plan here, Miguel? Just get on the first bus out of town and then think about where you are going?”

Well… obviously he hadn’t had the time to think things through…

“And if by some miracle you do find him, what then?” Johnny continued. “You gonna fight him with your busted arm? The dude who kicked your ass so bad that you ended up in a hospital for a weeks? You think you can take him on?”

“So what’s your advice?” Miguel asked. “I should just give up?”

Johnny shook his head. “Look, we both want the same thing for now.” He said. “Sure you want to kill him and I want to turn him in, but nothing’s gonna happen until we catch him first. So how about we focus on that for now? And on getting you ready for the next fight.”

Miguel bit his lip skeptically. “Is this some kind of trick to keep me from looking for Robby?”

“No… because I want to find Robby too. And I think you can actually help me do that.”

_ Alright… I get the game now… _

Yes, they both wanted to find Robby and sure, two of them working together was better than either doing it alone. But Johnny’s plan went deeper. While they looked for Robby and got Miguel back into fighting shape, he was also going to spend his time trying to convince him to give up his revenge quest.

_ But two can play that game, Sensei.  _ Miguel thought.  _ And just maybe, I’ll end up convincing you that he needs to be put down after all.  _


	3. Haystack

Portland had looked promising…

After months of nothing, Robby had finally gotten himself caught on a surveillance tape. 

It wasn’t Portland PD’s case… they’d been looking into the disappearance of some rich guy. And the dumbasses in LAPD were too lazy to go looking for him over there. But Miguel had no intention of waiting for them anyway… and neither did Johnny Lawrence. 

They’d already spent a month looking for him there, going through every homeless shelter and soup kitchen and showing his picture to every shady vagrant they came across until they finally found something.

“Yea, I know ‘im.” The guy said, nervously scratching his arm. “Saw ‘im around a month back. Real freaky...”

“What do you mean?” The hope in Johnny’s voice was palpable. “Tell me what you know.”

“Hey man, it’s none of my business, a’right?” The guy demurred. “Kids like ‘im come and go… and I don’t get involved in no mess.”

“What mess?” Johnny was getting desperate. “What did he do?”

“Sorry...” The guy shook his head. “Not getting nobody in no trouble...”

Miguel could see that Johnny was about to lose it. And maybe he should. A few good shots and the guy would sing like a canary.

But… did he really deserve that? He looked kind of messed up already. 

“Maybe this will help you remember?” Miguel pulled out a twenty dollar note from his wallet. 

The guy hesitated… but the lure of money was clearly winning him over.

“Maybe… another one would help more.” He suggested quietly. 

“Fine.” Johnny growled, pulling out another to match Miguel. “But you better give us everything. If I think you are holding back on us, I’m gonna kick your ass and take it all back.”

“Whatever man.” The guy quickly snatched it up and stuffed it into his pocket. “Yeah… that dude showed up over a month back. But he wasn’t like the others, y’know...”

“No, I don’t.” Johnny replied. “What does that mean?”

“I dunno...” The guy shrugged. “Every’ne ‘ere kinda just keeps to themselves. Don’t talk much. But dude was talkin’ to everybody. Like… he was tryin’ to make friends… ‘xcept not really.”

_ So not your typical homeless guy… _

“That was about the same time all them people disappeared...” The guy added. 

“Disappeared?” Miguel hadn’t read anything about that in the news and he’d looked. Carefully. “What do you mean? Who?”

“Y’know… kids here.” The guy shrugged. “Well… dunno if they actually disappeared though… It’s just how things is, y’know. Kids come around… see where they can get better food.. Better hustle. They don’t show up for days if they find something else… and s’mtimes they just move away… Nobody’s keeping track...”

“So?”

“Well… a lot more of them stopped comin’ around when that kid was around.” The guy explained. “And that stopped happenin’ once he was gone.”

_ Was Robby kidnapping homeless people now? What for? To kill them? _

Miguel knew Johnny would never want to believe it, but he had no trouble doing so.

“Wait… gone? What do you mean, gone?” Johnny asked. 

“Jus’ gone.” The guy shrugged. “Din’t show up one day and din’t show up after. Y’know, gone.”

“Yeah but, gone where?” Johnny was desperate. “Could he be one of the kids that was taken?”

“Could be.” The guy shrugged. “Dunno...”

“Do you have any idea where he could’ve gone?” 

The guy shrugged. “I just saw ’im around. Never actually talked to him.”

“Do you know anybody who did?” Johnny was grasping at straws.

The guys seemed to think about it. “Saw ‘im talking to Wade a couple of times.”

“Wade...” Johnny nodded, latching on to hope. “Alright. Where can I find this Wade?”

“Dunno.” The guy shrugged. “He gone too...”

Well… atleast Portland had  _ looked  _ promising…

They stayed there for two more weeks but the best they could do was find out that Robby had skipped town long before they’d even gotten there. 

* * *

“Miguel!” Sam’s sharp voice forced him to look up from his computer.

“What?” He asked, irritated. This was important.

“I said, are you even listening to me?” Sam answered.

Damn… he’d been lost in work again. 

“Ofcourse I’m listening.” He said, defiantly. 

“Really? So what did I just say?”

He bit his lip before answering. “You asked me if I was listening to you...”

He got an exasperated shake of the head for that…

“Are you gonna be done soon?” Sam asked, her voice losing hope. 

“Yeah… soon.” Miguel lied. “I’m close. I can feel it.”

He’d said that a thousand times before, but the truth was, Portland was the closest they’d gotten and they’d completely lost his trail after that. But thankfully, Sam didn’t call him out on it. 

“You’re looking for him on social media?” She asked, frowning. “I thought you already had that covered.”

He did. That was the first thing he’d done with Demetri’s help. He’d hacked into all of Robby’s socials… his email, his facebook, his insta… and setup an alert. The moment that guy logged in from anywhere, Miguel would know his IP address and he’d track him down.

“It has been months already.” Sam told him. “You think he’d be stupid enough to log in?”

“Probably not.” Miguel agreed. “But all it takes is one mistake. Just one moment where he gets sloppy… or nostalgic...”

Sam nodded. “So what are you looking for now?”

“He might’ve made new accounts.” Miguel replied. “I’m trying to see if you got any weird friend requests or followers lately.”

Sam nodded quietly. And then glared at him as realization dawned on her. 

“Wait… you hacked into  _ my  _ account?” She asked angrily. “Miguel! That’s not okay… Get out of there. Now!”

“It’s important, Sam.” Miguel said, calmly. “I need to do this.”

She wasn’t happy about this. She wasn’t happy about anything Miguel had been doing recently. 

“Even if he’s on there, he won’t be stupid enough to try to contact me.” Sam told him. “You’d be better off just going through every goddamn profile and picture on the internet.”

“Yeah, well, until those guys at google stop being a bunch of pussies and let me access their facial recognition program...” Miguel shook his head, frustrated. That was never going to happen. Every time he’d written to them for help, they’d replied with a bunch of legalese about privacy policies and court orders.

“Miguel!” Sam sounded tired and frustrated. “I don’t have much time left.”

“I’m almost done.” Miguel said to gritted teeth. “Just let me check the thread… and make a new one...”

“You made one two days ago.” Sam reminded him.

“And it’s already on page 10.” Miguel replied. “Nobody scrolls that far...”

That had seemed like another brilliant idea that had yielded nothing. 

Miguel had setup a website to find Robby… listing everything the guy had done, everything he knew about him, every picture he could find… and linked it to internet forums all over the place, hoping, praying, that some random stranger somewhere would just happen to have the information he was looking for. 

But the only thing that had done so far was make him lose faith in humanity. 

“Anything useful?” Sam asked. 

Miguel scoffed as he scrolled through the comments and read them out loud for Sam’s benefit. 

“Looks cute. He can murder me any time he wants...”

“OMG! I think the guy goes to my school! He sits behind me in trig and keeps staring… always knew he was a creep.”

“Isn’t that the Milwaukee bomber?”

“No, that’s the guy who shot up that school.”

“OMG! I know that guy...” Miguel sat up, interested. “He seemed like such a sweet guy. I can’t believe he’d do something so horrible. I hope they...” Miguel slumped back. 

“What?” Sam asked. “What does it say?”

“It’s Moon.” Miguel replied bitterly. “She left that comment.”

He didn’t know what Sam found so funny about that. 

“How is any of this supposed to be helpful?” He asked, frustrated. “Listen to this one: I know that guy, but his name isn’t Robby Keene, it’s Robert Hammett. And he’s not a criminal, he’s an FBI agent in training. And he is not from LA, he’s from Kansas. And he looks nothing like the guy in the pictures… Like, what the hell was even the point of this?”

Sam bit her lip and nodded understandingly. 

“I don’t think you are going to find him on the internet...” She told him. 

“What’s the alternative here?” Miguel asked. “Run around the streets, showing his picture to everyone? We did that in Portland... Dammit!”

“What now?”

“The nutjobs found it.” Miguel’s face twisted in anger. 

Sam sat beside him to look at his laptop and saw what he was talking about. Links with titles like “The Real Robby Keene” and “Robby Keene sighted”... links that led to conspiracy theory websites which didn’t even mention Robby. And those comments were all over the place. 

“Just ignore them.” Sam suggested. “There will always be crazy people out there.”

“You don’t understand...” Miguel sighed. “No one’s gonna take this seriously if it gets flooded with crazy conspiracy theories. People won’t pay attention to this anymore and we might miss some real leads… I need to do something about this. Figure out a way to block them.”

“Now?” Sam sounded resigned. 

“Yeah, now.” Miguel replied. “I told you - this is important to me.”

“Sure… guess I’ll say goodbye then...”

Miguel nodded distractedly. “Will you come back tomorrow?” He asked. “Bouncing ideas with you really helps.”

“No.. I won’t.” Sam replied. 

Her tone made him look up. “You got something better to do?”

“Yeah… I’m heading off to college tomorrow. Remember?” She said, tonelessly. “We were supposed to spend the whole day together. One last day with each-other before I left… Instead….”

_ Damn… I really screwed the pooch here… _

“Sam… I’m sorry.” He apologized. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“Don’t bother.” Sam shook her head, sadly. “I think… this is as good a time as any to do this. I’m leaving tomorrow anyway… so...”

He felt like a cold hand just grabbed his heart. 

“Are you… breaking up with me?” Miguel swallowed. “Is there… someone else?”

“Yeah, Miguel. There is someone else.” Sam gave him a hollow laugh. “Robby… he’s the third person in this relationship. The one you are obsessed with day and night. The one I come second to. You’re not even trying to keep your affair a secret.”

Miguel could feel his jaw clenching angrily. 

“That’s not fair.”

“You know what’s not fair? Me, humiliating myself during a college interview.” Sam told him. “I was supposed to be talking about my preferred major and I hadn’t heard from you in days and it was driving me crazy. Breaking down in tears in front of your interviewer… that’s not fair, Miguel.”

“I-I didn’t know.”

“Because you didn’t even ask.” Sam complained. “You never asked me how that interview went. You never asked me about any of them. And I never put any of that on you because you had bigger things going on.”

He did. His problems were more important. But that didn’t mean Sam’s didn’t matter.

“I screwed up, alright.” Miguel begged. “But I’ll do better… I’ll find a way to balance - ”

“This isn’t a see-saw, Miguel.” Sam was tired. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“What do you want from me? You want me to give up on trying to find him? Is that it?” The very thought made his blood boil. “I can’t do that, Sam. The guy took everything from me. I have nothing left.”

“Guess that makes me nothing, then.” Sam sighed. “Good to know where I stand.”

“I didn’t… mean it like that... ” Miguel slumped down, putting his face in his hands. 

_ Why does this keep happening? Why do I keep losing people I care about? _

He could practically sense Sam feeling sorry for him. She sat down beside him and put a comforting hand on his knee. 

“This was a long time coming.” She said, tonelessly. “You’d have seen it if you hadn’t been so focused on getting revenge.”

“Seen what?”

“That we were growing up… growing apart.” Sam told him. “That the magic we both felt was gone. You didn’t want to lose me because you were afraid of losing any more people. And I didn’t want to break up with you because I didn’t want to hurt you… not after... ” She didn’t have to say. “But my dad’s right. That’s not a good reason for us to stay together. We both have different priorities. I can’t be there for you the way you need me to… and you can’t be there for me either. And… that’s okay.”

“How is that okay?” Miguel asked morosely. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“The same thing you were going to do anyway.” Sam replied. 

_ Keep looking for Robby… _

“I will be done with this one day.” Miguel swore. “And then things - I - can go back to normal. Would you… wait for that?”

Sam shook her head sadly. “I won’t make a promise I can’t keep either...”

Sam left him… and Miguel realized that he was kind of all alone now. Sam was gone… leaving town tomorrow, his friends had moved on with their lives, his Yaya opposed him every chance she got… even Sensei wasn’t completely on board with the plan…

He was all alone and it was all because of Robby-fucking-Keene.

_ Eyes on the prize, Diaz,  _ he could hear Sensei say.  _ Focus on what you have to do and forget about everything else. _

Miguel nodded to himself and went back to work, hunting his enemy down.


	4. Encounter

“What can I get you fellas?” A chirpy voice asked and Miguel didn’t even look up from his laptop.

_ Look at her,  _ Johnny pleaded quietly.  _ You can’t spend every minute buried in that thing, kid. _

“Uh… what do you suggest?” He asked in Miguel’s stead.

“Oh… a lot.” Johnny wondered if the girl had some special reason to be so happy and cheerful today, but then a lot of people he’d met here had been the same. “We got a pancake-bacon breakfast to die for. We are really famous for our grilled burgers. And the special pie of the day - ”

“Just 2 black coffees, thanks.” Miguel cut her off. “We’re not staying long.”

“Uh-huh...” The girl deflated a little as she jotted down the order. 

“Before you go...” Johnny stopped her as he took out the picture from his wallet. “Have you ever seen this guy around?”

The girl looked at Robby’s photo for about 5 seconds. 

“Sorry, no.” She shrugged. “But a lot of people come through here, y’know?”

Johnny nodded, expectedly disappointed. Miguel hadn’t even bothered to look up at the exchange. 

“You know Diaz? You  _ are  _ allowed to have fun.” Johnny wagged a finger in the waitress’s direction. “That could be fun.”

“Right… because that’s what I need right now.” Miguel replied sarcastically. “To hook up with some random chick from a diner.”

“Might get that stick out of your butt.” Johnny teased. 

That failed to get a rise out of him as well. 

“How long do we have to stay here, Sensei?” Miguel asked. “It’s pretty obvious Robby’s not here.”

That was true. Stillwater wasn’t exactly a big place. They’d been through most of it already and no one there seemed to know Robby. 

“You wanna give up so soon?” Johnny asked, encouragingly. “We only got here 2 days ago. We spent over a month in Portland looking for him.”

“Well, we had more to go on there.” Miguel reminded him. “A real picture to begin with. Here? We got nothing.”

“Hey - my guy’s intel is solid.” Johnny reassured him. “He got a call from the sheriff’s department here that Robby was seen in the area.”

“A call that nobody there remembers making.” Miguel replied. “How much did you pay for this BS?”

_ Too much. _

“That doesn’t matter.” Johnny deflected. “Look - Robby doesn’t actually have to live here. He might’ve just been passing through this place.”

“If he was just passing through, then he’s long gone.” Miguel shrugged. “So why are we wasting our time again?”

“You got a better lead?” Johnny snapped. “Those trolls on your internet give you something? Because I’m all ears...”

Miguel pursed his lips and shook his head. 

He was getting leads alright… from all over the country and all of them bullshit. Not one credible thing between the hundred of them. 

“Well… this is all we got until then.” Johnny finished, sighing. “Look, I know things haven’t been easy for you since Sam dumped you - ”

“She didn’t dump me.” Miguel interrupted hotly. “We are taking a break because we have different priorities.”

“Right… since that...” Johnny rolled his eyes. “My point is, you can’t let your obsession take over your life. We are in this for the long haul. You gotta pace yourself. Take a break every now and then.” He jerked his head towards the waitress. “Have some fun...”

Miguel considered his words for a moment.

“And what about you?” He asked sullenly. “Are you gonna take your own advice?”

Johnny looked away guiltily. 

Things were… different for him. He couldn’t expect Miguel to understand and he wouldn’t lay it on him anyway, but his feelings towards Robby were a lot more… complicated.

_ All this happened because I didn’t care about him… he needed me and I wasn’t there… _

Maybe everyone was right. Maybe Robby was too far gone to be saved anymore. Maybe what he had done was unforgivable… maybe he was irredeemable…

But in that case, so was Johnny.

Johnny thought he knew what guilt was. He thought that was what had kept him from making a real effort with Robby, from making things right - the fear of compounding his own mistakes. But he’d been wrong. So wrong. Through the whole thing, he’d never really thought about what Robby was going through.

And now he found himself unable to think about anything else. 

It’d started with him trying to think of ways to redeem his son… to reach him and convince him to do the right thing. But to do that, he needed to understand him first. To put himself in his shoes and to know what he’d felt. 

If Robby hated him enough to do something so horrific, then there must be a reason, an explanation behind it. 

And then Johnny had found it. Alone… abandoned… rejected… unloved… Robby had been let down over and over again. Kid had never had anyone in his corner, telling him that he was loved, that he mattered, no matter what. He was lonely and miserable and starving in the streets and no one had cared enough.

Johnny hadn’t cared enough. He’d told himself he did… that he’d left the door open for his son to come back, but now he knew that that was just a lie you told yourself to make yourself feel better.  He’d been thinking about assuaging his own guilt instead of making things better for Robby… and this was where that had led. And if he was going to fix… make things better, then he could not go make the same mistakes again.

Miguel wasn’t going to understand it, but this wasn’t an obsession. This was… penance. He couldn’t ignore Robby’s pain anymore - not like he had before. He needed to feel every moment of it. That was what was going to drive him to make it better, to do things right this time. 

But Miguel was already shaking his head in disagreement. 

“If you could just change people by showing them that you understood them...”

He was probably right. It likely wasn’t going to be enough. But it was a start…

Miguel’s eyes widening and his jaw dropping open was the only warning Johnny got. 

“Hey. I’ll have two orders of your grilled burgers with fries and two shakes and...” The voice was unmistakably Robby’s. “Your number if you are finally ready for that date.”

Johnny jumped out of his seat and whirled around.

Robby was there, leaning against the counter and casually flirting with a waitress twice his age.

* * *

_ Is it really him? He looks… not what I expected… _

He’d been expecting him the way he’d shown up at their home. Or how he’d been caught on the camera. But Robby looked completely different. His hair was trimmed short, neat and clean. His clothes were new and fresh… jeans and an oversized leather jacket over the flannel shirt. He looked… bigger. Not like the skinny kid from the streets. He even held himself differently. 

Johnny stood rooted in his spot, uncertain of what to do next. He’d imagined this moment a thousand times and wondered how he’d react… whether he’d punch his son or hug him. And now that the moment was here… he still didn’t know. 

Dimly, he noticed their waitress rushing past him nervously. 

“Hey sweetheart.” Robby said, turning towards the approaching girl with a grin. “You miss m-”

His eyes met Johnny’s and the smile died on his face.

It felt like the turmoil inside him wouldn’t let him move. No… he was moving, he realized. He’d walked close enough to touch his son but didn’t dare to. 

“Robby...” That’s all he managed to choke out.

If Robby was feeling anything remotely similar, his face didn’t betray it.

“Son of a bitch!” He exclaimed in exasperation. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Johnny’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish while Robby kept looking at him coldly. Then his eyes darted sideways and fell on Miguel.

“You brought  _ him  _ with you?” His lips curled into a faint sneer. “Ofcourse you did...”

There was a metallic cocking sound behind him and a few gasps and shrieks from other patrons who’d turned to watch the show.

“Get down on the ground.” Miguel’s voice was tight. On edge. “NOW!”

Johnny’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the gun in Miguel’s hand - pointing straight at Robby’s head. 

“DIAZ!” And just like that, he was the sensei again. “Put that thing down. Now!”

Miguel didn’t budge. “Get down! Now!” He repeated. “I won’t ask again.”

_ He won’t do it. Look at him. His eyes are like a wild animal’s and his hands are shaking. He doesn’t have it in him to pull that trigger.  _

_ Do you really want to take that chance? _

Robby, however, looked completely unfazed. 

“You even know how to use that thing, Diaz?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You wanna find out?” Miguel bluffed, adjusting his grip. “Try me, asshole!”

_ Do what he says!  _ Johnny begged Robby with his eyes.  _ We’ll figure it out later, but for now… _

“No - try me, asshole!” Another voice said with a click and Johnny turned to see someone else standing behind Miguel… with a gun pointed to the back of his head. “Put it down or I put one in the back of your head.”

The guy looked like he was in his twenties. Pale and skinny with thick, curly black hair. And his hands were rock steady.

“Aidan, it’s fine.” Robby said calmly standing up straighter. “He’s not gonna shoot.”

“Not in here, he’s not!” It was a woman’s voice. The waitress behind the counter had taken out a shotgun, pumped and ready to go. “Not in my house!”

_ This just keeps getting better… _

Johnny was close to panicking. How the hell did this get so bad so fast? Where the hell did Miguel get that gun in the first place? And where had he been hiding it? And who was this guy who was willing to shoot a stranger for Robby?

And how the hell was he supposed to de-escalate this shit?

“Miguel, put the gun down.” Johnny tried again. “Robby - tell your friend to back off. Let’s everyone just calm down and talk about this.”

“Him first.” Aidan said coldly. 

Miguel wasn’t going to do it. Johnny could see it in his eyes - the same stubborn, determined look he’d had so many times before. He knew he was out of his depth but he wasn’t going to back down.

“Guys, it’s fine. Miguel  _ can’t  _ shoot.” Robby said confidently. “He left the safety on.”

Surprised, Miguel’s eyes darted downwards to check his weapon. Which was apparently the chance that Robby had been looking for. In a flash, he snatched the weapon out of Miguel’s hands. And the very next moment he was taking it apart.

“Well… what d’ya know?” Robby said, unloading the clip and then popping out the bullet in the chamber. “Safety was off after all...”

Johnny’s knees felt like they were about to go out from under him. Miguel’s eyes widened as he took a step back in fear after being disarmed so easily… and walked right into the gun to the back of his head.

“Aidan.” Robby said, sharply.

“Right...” The guy sheepishly took his weapon off Miguel and tucked it into the back of his pants.

The waitress didn’t move. She kept her shotgun trained on all of them. 

“Marsha, it’s fine. We’re leaving.” Robby said, sighing. He put Miguel’s stripped gun on the counter. “Get rid of this for me, woudja? And I guess we’ll save those burgers for the next time?”

She gave Robby a terse nod and lowered her weapon as well. And with a jerk of his head, Robby turned and left the diner… with his friend following close behind. 

And Johnny stood frozen in place, still unsure of what had just happened. 

* * *

“Robby! Wait!”

It was the thought of Robby disappearing on him again that had sprung him into action. And with no one pointing a gun at anyone anymore…

“Robby!”

He found his son in the parking lot of the diner, about to get into a blue classic cadillac.  Robby turned towards him, annoyed and his friend looked like he was about to pull out his gun again, so Johnny raised his hands in surrender. 

“I just want to talk.” He said. 

Robby jerked his head at something behind Johnny. “Him too?”

Johnny turned and saw Miguel coming up behind him. And right away, he put an arm on his chest to make sure he wouldn’t do anything rash. 

“He did something stupid.” Johnny said, diplomatically. “He’s not gonna do it again.”

Thankfully, Miguel didn’t contradict him.

“Look… nobody wants another fight here.” Johnny told him.

“That’s easy.” Robby shrugged. “You go your way, I go mine… and we never have to see each-other again.”

_ I can’t do that either… _

“You think it’s that easy?” There was venom in Miguel’s voice. “After what you did to my mom? You think I’ll just let you get away with that?”

Robby’s face was inscrutable. 

“It happened.” He shrugged. “Whatever you do here isn’t gonna bring your mom back. So get over it and move on.”

Johnny was barely able to restrain Miguel from attacking. 

“Listen… I know there has been a lot of bad blood between all of us.” Johnny said, trying to calm things down. “Everyone here has made mistakes. But if we can just sit down and talk about it...”

“We have nothing to talk about.” Robby replied calmly. 

They needed a plan… some way to keep Robby from leaving. 

Force wasn’t going to work. His friend had a gun and judging by the way Robby had handled it, he probably had one too. And reasoning with him didn’t look like it was working either. Johnny needed something he could use… some kind of leverage…

The chirp of a siren from an approaching police car gave him his out. Ofcourse… someone from the diner must have called 911 after the altercation and they could use the threat of the police to get Robby to comply. 

He’d have to handle it carefully, though. 

Miguel smirked angrily at Robby when he saw a middle-aged female officer get out of the car and Robby’s face remained as impassive as ever. 

_ I can’t turn him in… not right away. LaRusso did that before and Robby took that as betrayal. But I still need to use this… _

“Heya, fellas!” The officer said cheerfully. “What’s going on here? No trouble, I hope?”

Johnny pressed Miguel’s arm in a warning. 

“No trouble, officer.” He replied. “Just old friends catching up.”

“I’ve never seen these guys before in my life.” Robby said flatly. 

_ What the hell? _

“Robby...”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Robby asked, sounding frustrated. “I told you - my name’s Hammett. Kirk Hammett.”

_ What the hell is he trying to pull? Does he really think it’s gonna work? Wait… _

“Dude… that’s the guy from Metallica.” Miguel said in disbelief. 

“Yeah - I’m named after him.” Robby shrugged. “My parents were big fans.”

“Your parents weren’t big fans-” Johnny shook his head. “I mean, yeah, Metallica’s awesome. But you weren’t named after their guitarist.”

Robby gave an exaggerated sigh. “Here.” He said, taking out a card from his wallet. “Check for yourself.”

He handed his driver’s license to the cop and she held it at an arm’s length to take a good look at it. 

“Yup - Kirk Hammett.” She agreed. “Says so right here.”

“C’mon… that’s obviously a fake.” Miguel said indignantly. “His name is Robby Keene, he’s from LA and you need to arrest him right now because… because he’s a murderer.”

There it was. It was out. No stopping this train now. 

“Dude… I don’t know who this Robby Keene guy is or what he did to you. But I’m not him.” Robby had just the right amount of annoyance in his voice. “So back off and leave me alone, alright?”

“You fucking - ”

“Whoa… heyo… Language.” The officer cut him off. “Son, that’s a real serious charge. You can’t go around calling people murderers.”

“It’s true.” Miguel insisted. “Check your computer. Or whatever. Look up Robby Keene.”

“Well… not sure what’s that gonna prove.” The cop replied thoughtfully. “This young man here says he’s not Robby Keene and his id...”

“That’s bullshit! And I can prove it.” Miguel almost shouted, fishing out his phone from his pocket. “See? Here’s a wanted poster with his name on it. And his picture.”

“Oofta...” The officer took his phone, squinting at it. “Hmm… sort of looks like him. But this kid’s hair is a lot longer.”

“Well, he cut it.” 

“Unhhh...” She wasn’t convinced. “Looks a lot skinnier too.”

“So he gained some weight!” Miguel couldn’t believe what was going on here and Johnny was right there with him. “Look at his face. That’s him.”

“Hmm… I don’t know...” She held up the phone to compare it to Robby’s face. “It does kinda look alike...”

“It’s obviously a fake.” Robby shrugged. “The guy has had it out for me from the start.”

“Well… kind of sounds like a case of mistaken identity to me.” The officer shrugged, handing Miguel his phone back. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean any harm.”

Had the whole world gone insane? 

“Oh, c’mon.” Robby’s friend - Aidan - chimed in. “Dude pulled a gun on us.”

“ _ You _ pulled a gun on  _ me _ !” Miguel returned.

“Whoa there fellas… Let’s all take it easy here.” The officer tried to calm things down. “You guys were pulling guns on each-other? We don’t do that sort of thing here. Not in good old Minnesota. I’m hoping you guys all have your permits in order?”

“Sure thing, officer.” Aidan said, grinning cheekily. He pulled out a document from inside his jacket pocket. “There you go!”

She studied it carefully. 

“Yeah, everything looks good here.” She returned it to him and turned expectantly towards Miguel. “Son?”

“I-I...” Miguel hesitated, nervously. “I didn’t think...”

“See?” Aidan said immediately. “The guy’s nuts. And dangerous. He’s the one you should be arresting.”

“Hey...” Robby interjected calmly. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

_ How the hell are they turning this around on us like this? _

“He’s a criminal!” Miguel shouted, gesturing at Robby. “Do your goddamn job.”

“Well... from what I can see, the only one who has committed a crime is you.” The officer shrugged. “You are the one I should be arresting.”

Johnny couldn’t stay quiet any longer. 

“Listen, officer...” He realized he didn’t even know her name.

“Hanscum.” She provided, smiling brightly. “Sheriff Donna Hanscum. Nice to meetcha.”

“Sure… Sheriff Hanscum.” Johnny continued. “Miguel’s telling the truth, alright. I’m Robby’s father and I know he made some mistakes, but we’ve spent months trying to find him and - ”

“Tell you what?” Sheriff Hanscum interrupted. “How about you fellas come down to the station with me and we’ll sort it out lickety-split? You can file a report and we’ll do the whole ID thing - ”

“Are you gonna arrest him or not?” Miguel asked, angrily. 

“Oh... well… I can’t do that.” She replied, awkwardly. “He hasn’t done anything wrong as far as I can tell. I can’t go around arresting people willy-nilly.”

“You’re letting him get away?” Johnny couldn’t suppress his disbelief either. 

“I’m sure they’ll be happy to stick around to answer any more questions.” Donna said happily. “Won’t you fellas?”

“Sure thing officer.” Robby smiled. “We’re in room 31 at the Kingsbury motel anytime you need us. And you already have my address from my license. So...”

Was she seriously going to fall for that?

“Are you insane?” Johnny said, indignantly. “He’s obviously gonna run as soon as you turn your back on him.”

“Fellas, c’mon… we gotta trust each-other, right?” The sheriff said cordially.

“You can trust me, ma’am. I’ll be at the motel.” Robby said, smirking smugly and raising two fingers to his chest.. “Scout’s honor.”

* * *

Was there something in the water around here? Something that made everyone so cheerful and stupid all the time? Because Donna Hanscum was the dumbest, stupidest, most moronic cop Johnny had ever had the displeasure of meeting. 

She’d kept them at the station for hours, filling out pointless paperwork. She’d slowly made her way to contacting the authorities in LA. And then she’d finally decided to verify Robby’s identity by finger-printing him and DNA testing him… if she got a warrant in case Robby didn’t agree to it willingly. 

Predictably, Robby was long gone by that time. Neither Robby Keene nor Kirk Hammett had ever stayed in Room 31, Kingsbury Motel. The Kingsbury Motel didn’t even have a Room 31…

“Aw shucks, fellas! Tough luck, huh?” She’d shrugged when she told them the news. “Welp, don’t you worry. We’ll catch him soon enough. He can’t have gotten far.”

_ No, you stupid bitch! He’s probably in the next state already. _

“Dammit!” Miguel screamed, banging his hands on the dashboard. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“We’ll find him.” Johnny told him calmly.

“How? It took us two years to get this far. And now he knows we are after him.” Miguel was letting out his frustration. “We had him and we let him get away. And all because of that stupid, dumb cop! FUCK!”

Johnny wasn’t sure anymore. He knew he’d find his son, but he didn’t know if he wanted to. Not with Miguel there atleast. 

“What the hell were you thinking? Pulling a gun on him?” Johnny asked, keeping his temper in check. “That wasn’t the plan.”

“That was my plan.” Miguel told him defiantly. “I wasn’t going to let him get away.”

“What were you gonna do? Shoot him?”

“Maybe I should have.” Miguel swallowed. “But I couldn’t do it, could I? When it came down to it, I didn’t have the nerve.”

_ And that’s supposed to be a bad thing? _

“Maybe… you should just go home.” Johnny suggested. “I think you’ve done enough.”

Miguel glared at him angrily. “No!” He refused. “I’m not giving up. Not when we are so close.”

“So close to what?” Johnny shook his head. “I told you - I want to convince him to turn himself in. And you want to kill him. And… I can’t let that happen. And you saw what he was like. He won’t even talk to me with you around.”

“And… that’s more important to you?” Miguel asked, hurt.

“I can’t let you have what you want here.” Johnny shook his head. “Not this time.”

Miguel took a deep breath, calming down. “Then maybe… we can find a compromise...” He suggested.

Johnny looked at him and waited. 

“You saw what he was like, right?” Miguel went on. “He’s never going to turn himself in. Not on his own. And… if you do that, then he’ll want nothing to do with you. So… I’ll be the bad guy here.” He took another deep breath. “You can focus on making sure he doesn’t go anywhere and I’ll call the cops. I’ll get him arrested. You can keep your hands clean and then… do whatever you want with him.”

It was a coward’s way out. Even if he left it all to Miguel, that wouldn’t make Johnny any less culpable. But it had to be done and when it came to Robby, Johnny had always been a coward anyway.

“Are you sure?” Johnny asked. 

“I already know I can’t kill him.” Miguel said morosely. “I just don’t have it in me. Guess this is the next best thing.”

Johnny nodded slowly. It wasn’t much of a plan but it was something. 

“We still need to find him though.” Miguel reminded him. “He must have gone into hiding. Who knows how long it’ll take us this time.”

“Not long. I know how to find him.” Johnny said, smiling smugly. “I dropped my phone in his car when that cop was dragging us away. You can track that, right?”

Miguel’s face broke into a smile and Johnny felt proud of his rare smart moment. 

“Yes Sensei,” Miguel nodded. “I can track that.”


	5. Predator

They found the car in Wyoming two days later late in the evening. Parked right at the edge of the woods at the end of the paved road. They’d parked their own car a little further away, so as not to warn Robby of their coming. 

“You think he ditched it?” Miguel asked, checking out the empty vehicle.

Johnny shook his head. “I think he went in there.” He jerked his head towards the trail leading into the forest, the only one there.

“Camping?” Miguel frowned. 

“Or laying low.” Johnny replied. “Nobody around for miles, no cameras, no cops...”

“So… we’re going after him?” Miguel asked. 

Johnny nodded. “First things first.” He said and jimmied the hood of the car open. 

“What are you doing?”

“Taking out the spark plug.” Johnny explained. “With this, he won’t be able to run easily.”

Miguel nodded approvingly. “Smart. Let’s get him.”

They found the log cabin about a mile into the woods and it was already almost dark by the time they got there. 

“You think he’s in there?” Miguel whispered, covering his flashlight with his hand. 

Johnny peeked in through the windows. The inside of the place was pitch dark. But there were fresh footprints on the dust on the porch, leading in and leading out. 

“I think he was here.” Johnny replied. “Recently. And I think he went in deeper.”

Miguel nodded in agreement. 

They were close… so close… only a few hours behind. And no doubt Robby wasn’t expecting them to be this close. He was going to stop running soon and if they could use the element of surprise…

* * *

His heart kept thumping loudly in his chest and they barely managed to follow the narrowing trail using their flashlights. He’d been so focused on finding Robby that the thought of what Robby was doing out here at this time had never occurred to him at all. 

It started with a faint, distant howl in the air.

_ Shit! Are there wolves in these woods? Bears? Other wild animals? _

He’d almost decided to call it off for the night and camp out near the cabin or the car and wait for Robby there. But then the thought of Robby out there… on his own… alone and in danger again…

_ What the hell is he doing out here? Why didn’t he just stay in the cabin? Is there a hideout closeby? He can’t be camping out in the woods, can he? _

Miguel seemed to be getting nervous too. 

“You hear that?” He asked softly. 

Johnny pricked up his ears and listened intently. Nothing. Everything was dead silent. 

“Exactly.” Miguel said. “No crickets. No birds. Not even leaves rustling. When was the last time you knew nature to be this quiet?”

He was right. Johnny had been camping a few times and was always irritated by the wood’s constant white noise. These woods were completely dead. The very air felt haunted. 

“Let’s just find him fast and - ”

Another howl. Closer this time. 

_ Well, atleast there is something alive out there… _

_ But… if that wolf is the only thing out there, then what is it hunting? Or who? _

“Sensei...” Miguel said nervously. 

Suddenly, Johnny found himself regretting his decision to not let Miguel carry a gun. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that karate would protect them from a pack of wild animals. They should’ve carried some kind of weapon atleast… like a knife or…

“It’ll be fine.” Johnny said, faking confidence. 

There was nothing to worry about. They were in the woods, after all and woods had… well, wood. All they needed to do was break off a few sturdy branches and use them as make-shift spears. They wouldn’t actually need to use them… banging them against the ground would be enough to scare most wild animals away. Or they could use his lighter to make some torches. All animals were afraid of fire. That was a fact. 

Feeling better, Johnny started looking around for something he could use. And then - 

BOOM! 

The sound of the firearm was unmistakable. Both Johnny and Miguel stood frozen, staring into the darkness towards where it had come from. 

BOOM!

Another one. Closer this time. 

A distant sound of rustling. Footsteps running, coming closer, dead-ahead. 

“Cover the light!” Johnny hissed. 

They both stood by the trail and waited. 

_ It’s Robby. I know it. He used the gun to scare off the wolves and now he’s running back to the cabin. This is my chance. If I catch him now… disarm him… _

He saw the torchlight first, swinging wildly and closing in fast. There was a shadow behind it, panting with exertion. Johnny stood by and waited, letting it get closer… closer…

Then he moved, tackling the runner right in the middle of the trail. The guy grunted in surprise and Johnny took full advantage of it as they rolled on the ground. The torch was attached to a shotgun, he noticed and he managed to pin it across his chest, using it to hold him down. 

“What the hell?” It was Robby’s voice. 

“That’s enough, Robby!” Johnny said, as authoritatively as he could. “It’s over.”

Robby was shocked into compliance and Johnny breathed in relief. 

_ Not letting you go this time. I’ll tie you up if I have to -  _

“Get off me!” There was panic in Robby’s voice. “You idiot! Get off me!”

_ Not gonna -  _

Miguel screamed from behind him. There was a thump and a rustle as something knocked him to the ground. Johnny turned and saw his silhouette trying to kick out wildly. 

Robby took the advantage of Johnny’s distraction and threw him off. He scrambled back to his feet and the light moved in a wide arc until it found Miguel. He was struggling… against something. But Johnny couldn’t see what. Deep gashes appeared on his shoulder out of nowhere, making him scream again. 

The sound of a shotgun pumping drew his attention back to his side. 

_ The flashlight attached to the gun… and the gun pointing right at Miguel… Robby was going to… _

“ROBBY! NO!” Johnny screamed. 

BOOM!

Something yelped and there was a splatter of something black. Miguel was free, somehow scrambling back. 

There was a snarl and Robby shot again. Another yelp.

“Get him up and run!” Robby yelled at Johnny, panicking. “There is a cabin up ahead. Get to it. I’ll cover you!”

* * *

They made it to the cabin in less than five minutes. But it felt like an eternity.

Johnny somehow got Miguel to his feet. The thing had gone for his leg first and he was going to have trouble running. So Johnny put his arm around his shoulder and ran with him as fast as he could. The footsteps behind them told him that Robby was close behind. 

And the snarls and the growls told him their predators weren’t far either. 

Every now and then, as the growling got uncomfortably close, Robby turned around and let off another shot. 

They somehow made it to the cabin in one piece and Johnny kicked the door open, leading them in and putting Miguel down on the floor. Robby followed them in, slamming it shut. 

“Hold it shut!” He ordered and the urgency in his voice made Johnny obey. 

He heard a bag’s zipper being pulled open and saw Robby desperately searching for something inside the duffel with his flashlight. He pulled out a can, unscrewing the lid and - 

Something slammed into the door, almost throwing Johnny off. 

“Hold it!” Robby yelled, rushing over. 

Johnny held it, even as the thing outside kept slamming into it again and again.

Robby poured the white powder over the threshold in a line. The thing outside stopped as soon as he was finished… and then he rushed over to the window to do the same. 

Robby didn’t stop until every entryway was covered with a line of… what was that? Johnny pinched a bit of it between his forefinger and thumb and smelled it tentatively. Was that salt?

The lights inside the cabin switched on suddenly and Johnny shielded his eyes against the brightness. 

_Since when does Robby wear glasses?_ He thought numbly as he looked at his son.

But Robby wasn’t paying any attention to him and Johnny took a moment to look around the room, wondering if the flimsy wood would hold out. And then he saw it - strange symbols and sigils covering all the walls. Some painted, others carved into the wood…

Robby had a knife in his hand and the sight of it sent a chill through Johnny.

“Robby...”

“Shut up!” Robby snarled. “Fuck! Shut the hell up!”

_ It’s okay. He clearly doesn’t want to kill you. Or Miguel. He wouldn’t have saved you out there if he did.  _

With a deep breath, Robby sliced his palm open and began painting yet another symbol on the wall. And Johnny was too freaked out to even make a comment. 

He murmured something under his breath when he was done and slammed his bloody hand on the drawing… and for a moment, it looked like that made every other symbol on the wall glow orange. Then he sighed in relief and backed up, going back to the duffel bag and rooting around again.

He pulled some other stuff out… a bottle of water, a metal box… a first-aid kit, Johnny realized, as Robby pulled out a roll of bandage from it and wrapped it around his hand. Then he stood up, turning towards Miguel.

Instinctively, Johnny stood up at the same time, putting himself between then.

“I need to clean those wounds.” Robby said, sounding tired. 

_ He’s not trying to hurt anyone,  _ Johnny reminded himself.  _ He saved us out there.  _

He poured the water over Miguel’s shoulder first... or atleast, Johnny thought it was water. It made the wound sizzle and smoke and Miguel barely managed to suppress the scream. 

“Don’t be such a baby.” Robby said, repeating the same thing with his leg and making him whimper. 

“Hey! What is that?” Johnny asked, ready to step in. 

“Holy water.” Robby replied, without looking up. 

_ Holy - what?  _ Whatever it was, Robby was done with it. He bandaged Miguel’s leg wound first and then pressed a pad of gauze to his shoulder, telling him to keep the pressure on.

“This is your fault!” Miguel growled at him. “What the hell did you get us into?”

“What I got you into?” Robby said, incredulously. “Who the hell told you to follow me here, dumbass? You couldn’t just leave me alone?”

“Who the hell goes camping in a jungle full of wild animals?” Miguel returned. “If you’d just been smart and turned yourself in - ”

“Miguel!” Johnny cut him off sharply. 

There was something going on here. Something beyond his understanding… 

“Did you see what attacked you?” He asked, more softly.

“I...” Miguel shook his head. “It was dark. I couldn’t make it out.”

“Did you see anything at all?” Johnny asked again. “It’s color? Shape? Size? Even a shadow?”

“I told you - it was too dark.” Miguel insisted. 

“And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.” Robby chuckled.

“Robby do you know what - ?”

But Robby wasn’t looking at them. He was staring at the window, with a soft smile on his face. 

“Hey there, fugly.” He said, under his breath. “Can’t come in, can you?” 

He turned to Miguel and took off his glasses, offering them to him. 

“You wanna know what attacked you? Take a good look.”

Uncertainly, Miguel accepted the glasses and looked at the window through them… and then scrambled back in fear. 

“What the fuck?”

“What?” Johnny asked, but Miguel was too freaked to reply. 

Left with no option, he took the glasses from him and looked through them as well… and what he saw made his blood run cold. It was shadow and smoke in the form of a dog, fangs like drooling daggers and coal red-eyes glaring at him through the window. A moment later, the thing was gone. 

“What the hell is that?” Johnny asked, numb with shock. 

“A hellhound.” Robby replied. “Demonic pitbulls.”

“That’s insane.” Miguel murmured, shaking his head. “That’s not real. It can’t be real.”

“Try going out and telling it that.” Robby suggested. “See how that works out for you.”

The invisible wolves… the holy water… the magically glowing sigils… the… salt? It was all making some kind of twisted sense now. Except for…

“Why are there hellhounds here?” Johnny asked. 

“Yeah… they shouldn’t be in Wyoming.” Robby replied, musing. “Not in these numbers.”

_ That wasn’t what - wait. Numbers? _

_ More than one howl? _

“How many are there?”

“Four - no, five. I think.” Robby replied. 

“But you can kill them, right?” Miguel asked, a little hopeful. “You shot the one that attacked me - ”

“That just pissed it off.” Robby shook his head. “And pretty soon - ”

A long howl from outside interrupted him. And a moment later, there was an answering howl from far away. 

“There it is.” He sighed. “It’s calling it’s friends over. Telling them it’s got us cornered. This place won’t hold out for long once they get here.”

He took a deep breath. 

“Guys, it’s now or never.” Robby told them. “Miguel, you’ll have to run somehow. We have a small window here… we’ll make a run for it before the others get here and once we get to the car, we are home free. I’ll cover you the best I can. So, what do you say? You guys up for a jog.”

Johnny nodded slowly. 

_ We’ll make it, all of us. I’ll make sure Miguel makes it even if I have to carry him myself. And once we make it to the car… _

_ The car… _

“It won’t work.” Johnny said, in growing horror. 

“Why not?”

“The car… it won’t start.” Johnny told him. “I took out the spark plugs.”

Robby looked stunned for a moment. And then his face twisted in rage. 

“You did  _ WHAT _ ?”

“I… wanted to cut off your escape...”

_ And I did… and ours with it.  _

“Perfect… just fucking perfect...” Robby said through gritted teeth. “Oh… we’re so screwed.” He glared at Johnny with venom in his eyes. “You just can’t stop screwing me over, can you? Always knew you’d be the one to get me killed.”

Johnny swallowed thickly and didn’t answer.

* * *

The phone was ringing…

“Are you calling the cops?” Miguel had asked when Robby had dialled. “Or… animal control?”

“Something like that.” Robby had scoffed in reply. 

Someone picked up after the fourth ring. 

“Robby?” A gruff voice said from the other end. “What’s going on?”

“Hellhounds.” Robby replied. 

That was enough. 

There was a loud screeching sound of a car coming to a stop and someone cursed out a son-of-a-bitch.

“You were supposed to be after a Black Dog.” Another voice said. 

“Yeah, we thought so too.” Robby replied. 

“Aidan?” The first voice asked and Johnny remembered Robby’s friend who should’ve been with him. 

Robby hesitated, swallowing. 

“We… got separated.” He replied sounding scared for the first time. “Dean… I’m sorry… I… they came out of nowhere. We had the glasses and we still didn’t see… they got him… and I tried to save him but… I don’t think...”

_ That other kid? The one who pulled a gun on Miguel to protect Robby? He’s dead? Killed by those… things? _

“It’s okay, kid.” Dean’s voice was tight and controlled. “Focus on keeping yourself alive for now. Where are you now?”

“Hunting cabin close to Jasper, Wyoming.” Robby replied, looking around. “Looks like one of Bobby’s.”

_ A different Bobby, right? _

“Yeah, we know it.” Dean replied. There was a loud roar of a car starting and another screech as they were moving again. “Hang in there. We’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“That’ll be too late.” Robby replied, desperately. “Just call Rowena and tell her to find a way to get these bitches off my ass.”

There was silence on the other side. 

“Sam?” Dean asked. 

“I’ll ask, but...” The other guy - Sam - sounded uncertain. “Rowena doesn’t control them. Can you make a run for it? How many - ?”

“Five.” Robby replied. “And I got people here.”

“What people?” Sam asked incredulously. 

Robby gave them a cold look. “Does that matter?”

“No… I guess not.” Dean replied quietly. “Just hang in there, Robby. Activate the wards - ”

“Already did.” Robby said, looking at the walls. “And they are already getting through.”

Johnny looked to see what Robby meant and he could see it too. The symbols on the wall - they were already fading. Growing thinner in places. 

_ This is all because of us. He could’ve run if we weren’t here… No, even with us here he can leave us behind. Use us as a distraction while he gets away… _

“I found a couple of things.” Robby was saying. “Bobby really keeps the place well-stocked. Holy oil. Fulgurite. Devil’s shoestring. Sage...”

“NO!” Came the reply in unison.

“Listen - I know this spell - ” Robby tried.

“I know what you know.” Sam said, sternly. “It won’t work. It’s too short range. They’ll all have to be together for it to work. And close.”

“How close?”

“Close enough to smell their breath.”

Robby took another scared breath…

“So… I’ll need a bait.” He said, more to himself. “Something… someone to draw them in...”

“Robby, don’t!” It was Sam’s voice. “Hang in there. We’re on our way.”

“You won’t make it.” Robby’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Find someone closer.” Dean’s voice cracked like a whip. “Bobby… Jody… Garth… Find anyone. Robby, you sit tight.”

“I’ll hold on as long as I can.” Robby said, quietly. “But if they break through...”

_ Is he… getting ready to die? _

“The people with you - can you trust them?” Dean asked cautiously. 

Robby looked at him and smiled sadly. “No...”

“Yes, he can!” Johnny spoke up, moving closer to him. “I can help. Tell me what you need me to do.”

“Robby…?” Dean asked for confirmation.

Robby gave his father a considering look and then shrugged. “Whatever...”

That was good enough, apparently. 

“Look, if it comes down to it… if Robby has to play that card...” Dean’s voice shook a little. “You need to rush him to the hospital. As fast as you can. Get him to Ford Memorial - it’s not the closest, but that’s where you need to go. Ask for Dr. Milligan. Tell him what happened… and only him. Nobody else, you got it? He’ll know what to do.”

“Yeah… okay.” Johnny said, shakily. 

“Don’t get the cops involved. Make up whatever story you have to to keep them out of it.” Dean added. “And Robby… I’ll call Adam and tell him to be ready but... don’t let it get to it.”

“I’ll try.” Robby replied, numbly and ended the call.

* * *

The preparations were complete… and Johnny didn’t understand any of it. 

Robby got out a beat-up old bowl from one of the drawers and threw in all sort of crap in there - a crushed up crystal, herbs, oil… and Johnny winced when he unwrapped his hand and squeezed some of his blood in there as well, mumbling something in latin all the time.

Then he made the two of them move to the corner and poured a circle of salt around them. 

“Stay in there, got it?” He told them, breathing nervously. “Don’t leave the circle. No matter what happens.”

Johnny nodded and Robby went on to put down another one at the center of the room around the bowl… just big enough for one person. And then he sat in there… waiting. 

“You don’t have to do this.” Johnny pleaded. 

“Yeah, I do.” Robby replied, tonelessly. 

“I mean, you don’t have to be the one to do this.” Johnny clarified. “Let me do it. I’m the reason we are in this mess, right? So - ”

“You don’t know what to do.” Robby replied.

“Then tell me.” Johnny pleaded. “Tell me what to do and I’ll-”

“Just shut up and let me save your ass.” Robby snapped, putting an end to the discussion. 

The howling and barking outside was growing louder. After a while, the light in the room started flickering. Robby tensed, kneeling up straighter. He put his magic glasses back on and took out a silver and white gun, checking the bullets and cocking it ready. 

His breathing was getting harder and Johnny knew it meant that it was close. Robby had been right all along. His friends weren’t going to make it in time. 

“Miguel...” Robby spoked up, quietly. “I wanted to tell you...”

Miguel perked up, listening intently, waiting for him to go on.

But Robby shook his head instead. 

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Before Johnny could follow up, the window crashed and something heavy and invisible landed inside with a howl. The door flew open as well and another one came through the other window. 

_ They’re in here with us. _

The room was filled with the sound of snarling and snapping. Scratches started appearing on the floor randomly as the hounds clawed at it. Johnny could smell the stink of sulphur and brimstone and it took all his willpower not to panic and run. He shifted his body to shield Miguel behind him and felt a hot, putrid puff of air on his face. 

“Over here, mutt!” Robby said, pointing his gun in their general direction and shooting.

A yelp and a snarl and the thing padded away.

“That’s right.” How Robby managed to keep his cool seeing those things Johnny would never know. “Closer… closer...”

Judging by the disgust on his face, those things were close enough to lick him. 

Robby smiled and lit a match. “And now you can go straight back to hell, you ugly bitch!”

There was a flash of light brighter than the sun and for a moment, Johnny could almost see the shadows of hounds outlined - before they disintegrated. 

The blast made Robby fly back. He slammed against the wall with a sickening crunch, almost going through it. Then he fell down to the floor, unconscious, smoke rising from burns all over his body.


	6. Fiction

Robby was unconscious for hours and Johnny didn’t leave his side for even a second. 

“It was a bear attack.” He’d told the ER guys, surprised at how easily the lie had come to him. “We were camping in the woods and it came out of nowhere. The thing was almost 10 feet tall… it threw him to the ground and went after Miguel. I didn’t know what to do but Robby… he… threw a bottle of whiskey into the campfire. Scared that thing off. But the explosion...”

The nurses and orderlies had looked a little skeptical, but they accepted his story without criticism. After all, the truth would’ve been even freakier…

Dr. Milligan was another story though…

“Hellhounds, huh?” The young man had said. “That’s nasty. I’ll need you to get me some holy water for the other kid’s wounds.”

“Robby already did that.” Johnny replied, remembering. 

“Good… good...” Dr. Milligan nodded. “Good kid...”

They’d kicked him out after that and he’d stayed with Miguel while he got stitched and bandaged up. But then as soon as the doctor had showed his face outside…

“He broke his arm in two places.” Johnny was told. “And he has superficial burns all over. But it’s the internal injuries that...”

“Internal…?”

“He used a dangerous spell.” The doctor had said. “Especially for someone like him...”

This was wrong… all wrong. Robby shouldn’t look like this. Small and broken and wrapped up in bandages like a mummy… Johnny paced his room nervously, not daring to leave for a second, until his son woke up with a painful groan.

His eyes opened and drowsily looked around the room. 

“Hey champ!” Johnny said, faking the cheer. “You gave us a real scare there.”

“Wh-where… where...” Robby rasped, and swallowed to wet his dry throat. “Where’s Dean?”

Johnny shook his head. _Not here…_

His friends were supposed to show up hours ago, but they weren’t there. 

_ I am though. I am here. I didn’t leave you for a second. I didn’t let you down this time… doesn’t that mean anything anymore? _

“I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” Johnny said, comfortingly. “Here… have some water...”

He held up the cup to his parched lips and Robby gratefully took it in with small sips. 

_ What am I supposed to say now? _

“You… uh… you were a really awesome out there.” Johnny said, hesitating. “The way you handled those things… I don’t even know how… it was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen.”

Robby looked up at him, unstaring and even though he couldn’t see his face, Johnny knew he’d said something wrong. 

“Badass?” Robby said. “I got my friend killed. Aidan’s dead because of my screw-up… because I didn’t do my research. You think that’s badass?”

_ Why do I keep screwing up? Why do I keep saying the wrong thing? _

“Sorry… I didn’t...”

Robby leaned back into the pillows and turned his face away. 

“Just go away...” He mumbled. “I don’t want to talk to you...”

* * *

Johnny stayed. He respected Robby’s wishes and didn’t say another word, but he stayed there until Robby fell asleep and then waited for what felt like hours…

Until that man in the suit showed up. 

“Hey.” He said, quietly, in a gruff, familiar voice. “How is he?”

“Alright.” Johnny replied. “You… are the guy from the phone, right?”

“Dean Winchester.” He nodded with a tight smile. “And you are…?”

“Johnny. Johnny Lawrence. I’m - uh - Robby’s....”

“Right...” Dean nodded knowingly. 

_ So I guess Robby has mentioned me once or twice… _

Johnny could feel his defenses going up. This guy didn’t even know him and he was already judging him? To hell with that.

“Where the hell were you?” Johnny struck first. “You were supposed to be there in a few hours. It’s been...” Johnny checked his watch. “Over 10 already.” 

_ Holy shit! Has it really been that long? _

“Adam told me Robby was fine.” Dean replied calmly. “And we had stuff to take care of.”

“Stuff more important than Robby?” Johnny threw back.

“Dad!” Their voices had woken Robby up and he was staring at him angrily. But his face changed a moment later.

“Dean...” There was guilt in those eyes. And fear. “I’m sorry… I screwed up...”

“You did good, kid.” Dean said immediately. 

“They came out of nowhere… got Aidan first...” Robby continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I… tried to lead them away. I wanted to save him...”

“You did.” Dean said, more loudly. “Robby… Aidan’s alive.”

Robby stared at him and blinked in disbelief. “No… I saw him… and the blood...”

“Yeah, he got messed up pretty bad. Not gonna lie about that.” Dean agreed. “But the kid’s tough. And you did lead those mutts away from him. He managed to crawl his ass into a protective circle and waited for help. And we got to him in time. He lost a lot of blood and he’s gonna have a bunch of new scars… but he’s gonna be fine.”

Robby’s body went limp with relief and he made a sound somewhere between laughing and crying. 

“You made one hell of a racket, kid.” Dean said, ruffling his hair. “You were pretty awesome out there. Five hounds at once… don’t think even I have ever done that.”

Robby smiled, clearly appreciating the compliment. 

_ Oh, now he wants to hear it? _

“That spell you used though… shouldn’t have done it.” Dean added. “Shouldn’t have put yourself at risk like that.”

“Because I’m tainted?” Robby asked. 

“Yeah, that too...” Dean agreed.

It was like they were talking in a foreign language right in front of him. 

“Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Johnny asked annoyed. “Who are you? How do you know my son? And what the hell was all that out there tonight?”

“Yeah… I’d like to know that last part too.” Robby said, alert and trying to sit-up. “What the hell is going on here, Dean?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dean said, putting a hand on his shoulder and keeping him down.

“Jasper… I knew that meant something....” Robby murmured, distracted. “It has been bothering me all day… what is it about this place? Where have I read about it?”

“There’s a Devil’s Gate closeby.” Dean sighed. “But we got this, okay? You don’t need to worry.”

Robby had gone stiff and was staring up at his friend with wide eyes. 

“What the hell is going on here?” He asked, sounding worried. “Hellhounds… they don’t work in packs… not unless they are being controlled by someone. And five of them just happen to show up near a Devil’s Gate?”

“Robby...”

“Something’s happening. Something big. Someone’s making a move...” Robby sounded panicky. 

“Hey!” Dean said, snapping his fingers to snap him out of it. “I said take it easy. We got this.”

“Don’t treat me like a kid, alright?” Robby shot back. “Rowena’s losing control, isn’t she? She’s slipping and - ”

“Robby...” There was a hint of a warning in Dean’s voice. 

They both looked at each-other stubbornly for a second and the Dean turned towards Johnny.

“Could you… give us a minute?” He asked. “We need to talk... privately.”

_ Privately? About hellhounds and Devil’s gates?  _

“I’m not going anywhere.” Johnny replied. “I don’t know what crap you got my son mixed up in but I can tell it’s dangerous and I’m not leaving him alone with  _ you. _ ”

“Dad...” Robby shrugged tiredly. “Just get out. Go check on Miguel… I know you want to do that anyway.”

Ofcourse he’d throw that in his face. 

“Miguel’s fine.” Johnny said, tightly. “And I need to be here...”

“No, you don’t.” Robby replied. “Get out, okay? The grown-ups need to talk.”

Johnny hesitated, trying to think of a counter-argument. 

“He’ll be fine.” Dean reassured him. “He’ll be here and he’ll be safe. You can see him again in a bit.”

Outdone, Johnny nodded and left the two of them alone.

* * *

As was expected, Miguel didn’t stay in his hospital bed for long. After everything, the kid had come to hate them with passion. He’d somehow weaseled a crutch out of the nurse and made his way to the waiting area, where Johnny found him. 

“Hey.” He looked up expectantly as Johnny approached. “Uh...”

Johnny could still read the kid like a book… this one atleast.

“Robby’s fine.” He answered the unasked question. “Banged up, but he’ll be okay.”

“Really?” Miguel asked. 

“He’s already pissed off at me.” Johnny shrugged. “So he must be feeling like himself...”

Miguel bit his lip and nodded, looking at his phone again with a conflicted expression. 

“I’ve been trying not to call for hours.” He said quietly. “Almost did call twice but hung up.”

“Call?”

“911.” Miguel explained. “The cops.”

_ Right… the plan to turn Robby in. The one they’d agreed upon… _

“I know he saved our lives tonight.” Miguel said, struggling. “I know we’d have died out there if not for him. I know that he almost died for us… but he also killed my mom. And my brother. What he did tonight… it doesn’t change anything.” He looked at Johnny, pleading. “Does it?”

_ Doesn’t it?  _ Johnny wondered.  _ Doesn’t it show that we were wrong about him? That he’s not the evil monster we all thought he was? _

_ But even if he changed… does that mean he should get away with what he did? _

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers.” Johnny replied. “But… let’s not do anything rash before we have them.”

“Huh?” Miguel looked at him, confused. 

“Miguel… something’s going on here. Something we don’t understand. You see that, right?” Johnny said. “I mean… invisible dogs? Magic bombs? That stuff is totally nuts. But it’s real and we don’t know how deep it goes. So maybe there is an explanation… a reason for why Robby… did that.”

“A reason for why he killed my mom, you mean?” Miguel asked, angry and desperate at the same time. “My mom was a good person. She never hurt  _ anybody.  _ What could possibly justify…?”

“I don’t know.” Johnny agreed. “But let’s wait until we find out a little bit more?”

Miguel hesitated and then nodded. 

_ Atleast one kid still listens to me… _

* * *

Dean Winchester came out of Robby’s room about half an hour later. He slid the door close and stood there, considering his next step until Johnny stood back up. Catching his eye, Dean made a beeline straight for them.

“He’s fine.” He told them as he approached them. “He’s resting.”

Johnny nodded. “I’ll stay with him. In case he needs anything.”

“Yeah. Before that...” Dean cleared his throat. “We need to talk. He told me what happened last night. That… can’t happen again.”

Johnny and Miguel gave him identical confused looks. 

“You guys screwed up his hunt.” Dean explained. “You got involved in something that was none of your business and you almost got him killed. That can’t happen again. Whatever beef you have with him? That ends now.”

**_We_ ** _ got him killed? What about you? What did you get him into? _

“Do you know what he did?” Miguel asked angrily. “Why we are after him?”

“I don’t care.” Dean shrugged. 

“He killed my mom.” Miguel said, through clenched teeth. “He snapped her neck right in front of me. And you just want me to let it go? What would you do if someone had killed your mom? Kill them or spare them?”

Dean’s lips twitched upwards for a fraction of a second. 

“I’ve done both.” He replied. “But that doesn’t matter. Robby didn’t kill your mom.”

Johnny stood there in stunned silence… the words he’d hoped to hear but never expected to.

“Yeah, right...” Miguel scoffed. “It was just something that looked and sounded exactly like him.”

_ Could it be…? _

_ No… that was insane… _

_ But… so were hellhounds and holy hand grenades… _

“He was possessed.” Dean explained. “His body wasn’t his own… he couldn’t control anything. The demon that was possessing him… that thing killed your mom. Not Robby.”

“What…? No...” The anger didn’t leave Miguel’s face, but now there was confusion there as well… and hesitation. “No… you’re lying. It was him...”

“He smelled bad… like rotten eggs. Like the hellhounds last night.” Dean continued. “His eyes went black. He was way stronger than he should’ve been. He knew stuff he had no way of knowing… any of this ringing a bell?”

“No… no...” Miguel desperately tried to hold on to the belief that had defined him for the past two years. “Why would… why would a demon want to kill my mom?”

“From what I can heard, he didn’t care about your mom.” Dean replied, calmly. “He was looking for a virgin’s heart for some nasty spell. It was there because it figured you were one. But when it turned out that you weren’t...”

_ The baby… the boy that wasn’t even born before it got his heart ripped out… _

Miguel sat there in shock, desperately trying to hold on.

“Robby didn’t do it.” Johnny mumbled. “He wasn’t in control.”

_ Lost in darkness… possessed by hatred... _

_ Did Bobby know? Did he… suspect? _

“That’s it? That’s why my mom had to die?” Miguel said numbly. “Because some twisted thing from hell wanted to do something dark magic?”

“Yeah...” Dean nodded, sympathetically. “I know this doesn’t make anything better, but trust me, nothing’s gonna make it better. This is just something you learn to live with.”

“Why her?” Miguel begged. “Why did she have to be the one? Why not…?”

“Who, kid?” Dean asked. “Who deserved to die instead of her?” 

_ No one did. No one deserved to die like that. _

“It still came for me.” Miguel argued. “It was at my house to try and kill me - instead of picking some random virgin off the street. That was because of Robby, right?”

Dean pursed his lips. “Robby fought like hell to take back control. He was fighting that thing from the inside the whole time. Can you imagine what that was like? Being locked inside your own body? Watching yourself do horrible things? Helpless to stop it but never getting the screams out of your head? Your mom wasn’t the only one that thing killed and Robby… he was a victim here too.”

“How long?” Johnny choked out. “How long did that thing…?”

“10 months.” Dean replied. “We found it in Portland, exorcized it and sent it back to hell. Robby has been with us ever since.”

_ 10 months… he was a prisoner in his own body for 10 months… _

“Can that thing come back?” Miguel asked. “Possess someone else?”

Dean shook his head. “Not for a long, long time.”

“But there are others, right?” Johnny said, realizing. Snippets of conversation… hellhounds… someone controlling them… devil’s gate… all came back to him. “What Robby was talking about inside? Something big going down?”

Dean nodded tightly, but didn’t say anything. 

“And… he said he was tainted?”

Dean sighed and nodded. “The spell that he used against those hellhounds - it blasts away anything demonic closeby. And Robby was touched by a demon. That can... leave traces. Something like that would hurt someone like him more than a normal person.”

_ And he still wouldn’t let me do it…  _

“Why didn’t he just tell us that?” Johnny asked. “Once the demon was out of him… why didn’t he just come back? Tell us the truth?”

“Would you have believed him?” Dean replied. “If you hadn’t seen what you did last night...”

_ Yes, I would’ve. I was desperate. I would’ve taken any reason to believe that he wasn’t at fault… _

“Why did this happen to him?” Johnny asked, desperately. “Why him? Why did he have to go through that?”

Dean pressed his lips together sympathetically. “It happened, okay? It doesn’t matter why.” 

_ He knows. He has the answer… _

“Tell me. Please.”

Dean sighed. “Demons… they love to cause pain. They love to hurt people for no reason. And they love to go after those who are already hurting.” He looked Johnny in the eyes. “That’s why it picked Robby. He was already in pain. He was alone and miserable and vulnerable and the demon just couldn’t pass up the chance to torture him some more. That’s why it happened.”

_ It happened because of me,  _ Johnny thought as Dean Winchester walked away.  _ It happened because I left him alone and miserable and vulnerable. My son was in pain and I never cared enough to do anything about it… and that’s why all this happened. It all comes back to me… _


	7. Needed

“So how’s Miguel?” Robby asked, almost nonchalantly. 

“You really wanna know or you just wanna hate me for knowing?” Johnny asked, genuinely curious.

He got a cold look from his son for that and no reply.

_ Dammit, Johnny. .You can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Every time you talk to him, you make him feel like crap. Like how he’s the one in the wrong.  _

“Sorry… I shouldn’t have said that.” Johnny said. “Miguel’s fine. He’s starting to walk around already. He hates being stuck in the bed.”

“Hmm...” Robby said like he didn’t care one way or the other. 

“He’d like to see you.” Johnny mentioned. “He’d like to thank you for saving us… he’s just worried that you don’t want to see him.”

“I don’t.” Robby replied. “Don’t wanna see you either.”

“Yeah… well… since when did I care about what you wanted, right?” Johnny smirked.

“Atleast you used to pretend to care.” Robby shot back.

Situation normal - all fucked up.

“Look, we’ve already established that I’m no good at this.” Johnny said, sighing. “I always say the wrong thing with you… and I keep messing up...”

“And what? You want to change? Do better?” Robby scoffed. “Heard that before. It’s already too late for that.”

It probably was.

“I don’t want to hurt you again.” Johnny said, pleading. “I’m not asking you for another chance… but give me some direction here, please.”

“That’s easy.” Robby replied. “Go away and never show me your face again.”

Johnny sighed, sitting down with his face in his hands. 

“You always push me away...” He sounded defeated. “Always. And… I didn’t get it before… I always thought that you didn’t want me around. But that wasn’t it, was it? You wanted me to push harder… to fight harder, for you… for us. You wanted me to show you that I cared.”

“Maybe…” Robby conceded. “But that was before. Back when it meant something.”

Johnny nodded. “It still means something to me.”

“I wish I could believe that.” Robby replied. 

_ You will… I’ll make sure you will… but not through words. Not only through words. _

“There’s something I need to say.” Johnny said, quietly. “It might piss you off and I know you’ve heard it before but… just let me have my say. Please?”

Robby looked at him suspiciously and shrugged. 

“I failed you and I really am sorry for that.” Johnny began. “Even after they got that demon out of you, you didn’t think you could come back to us. To me. You didn’t think you could trust me. And that’s on me… I never gave you a reason to trust me to begin with. You felt like you were completely alone and you couldn’t rely on anybody… and no one should have to feel like that. I made you feel like that and for that I’m sorry.”

Robby’s face betrayed nothing. 

“Doesn’t change anything.” He said impassively. 

“I know.” Johnny agreed. “I just want to make sure that you don’t blame yourself for any of it. Even going forward...”

Robby frowned. “What do you mean?”

Johnny sighed, trying to put his fears into words. “I don’t want you to think that you could’ve avoided it by trusting me. That if you’d given me a chance you could have avoided getting possessed and Carmen wouldn’t… no matter what happens, that’s not true. I needed to earn your trust… to fight for you and I didn’t. That’s on me.”

Robby jutted out his chin stubbornly. “I know that already.”

“Good.” Johnny didn’t believe him, but nodded anyway. “Good. Just wanted to make sure...”

He fidgeted, trying to gather courage for the next part. 

“Can I ask you something?”

Robby looked uncertain, but nodded anyway. 

“Why didn’t you tell us about the possession?” Johnny asked. “I mean, that night - when those hounds were circling us and we were just waiting for them to break in. Why didn’t you say, ‘hey, that Carmen thing wasn’t my fault’?”

“What difference would that have made?”

_ The difference between life and death? _

“Robby...” Johnny hesitated.  _ Do I even want to know?  _ “Miguel hated you for what he thought you did. He wanted you dead. He pulled a gun on you in front of everyone, for god’s sake. What if…?” Johnny swallowed. “What if Miguel hadn’t let me save your life? What if he’d told me to leave you there to die - even after you saved us?”

“Would you have done it?” Robby asked, his expression inscrutable. 

“No. Of course not.” Johnny said with absolute certainty. “And Miguel never would’ve asked.”

“So what’s your point?”

“That… I wouldn’t expect you to believe that. We never gave you a reason to.” Johnny explained. “You were saving the life of two guys you thought hated you. And one of them did hate you. More than that… you were putting your life in their hands. And you didn’t tell them the one thing that could’ve made them hate you less? Why?”

Robby looked away and stayed silent for a while. 

“Everyone’s better off hating me.” He said, not meeting Johnny’s eyes.

“Did your new friends teach you that?” Johnny asked. 

“No… Kreese taught me that.” Robby replied, sighing. “Look… bad things happen, alright. They happen all the time and they can happen anytime. And if you have someone to blame for those things… some target for your anger… then it can help you fight on. Move on - one way or the other.” He shook his head. “Otherwise… if bad things just happen for no reason, then… then you are just left feeling helpless and bitter.”

“Robby... ” Johnny started sadly.

“I didn’t do it for Miguel or any such shit, okay?” Robby said defiantly. “I wasn’t really thinking about him back then. I just figured that hating me was something he had and I didn’t want to take that from him.”

Johnny shook his head. “And that was worth dying?”

“Figured I was dead anyway.” Robby shrugged. 

The way he said it… so casually… like his life didn’t matter…

_ Is this what I made him into? A broken boy who doesn’t care if he lives or dies? Who’d sacrifice himself for people who want to hurt him?  _

* * *

Robby wasn’t like that with others though. Johnny discovered that when a couple of friends of his came in for a visit. 

_ He has friends? _

“Robby, you decent?” A curly haired brunette in her twenties popped her head in. “This jackass won’t stop whining until he sees you.”

“Krissy!” Robby’s face brightened as he sat up, awkwardly shifting his casted arm. 

Krissy popped out, sliding the door open fully before wheeling in the boy from the other day. Aidan had bandages all over - his arm, his shoulder, his leg, his neck. The hellhound had really done a number on him. But he looked cheerful enough as he gave Johnny a cursory nod before grinning at Robby. 

“How’s the busted flipper, killer?” He asked. “Gonna be back in rotation soon?”

“Sooner than you.” Robby replied, grinning ear to ear and offering him a fistbump with his good arm. “Still can’t believe you made it. Figured you were puppy-chow for sure.”

“Yeah… me too.” Aidan gingerly patted his injured neck. “Well, atleast I got a few cool scars out of it.”

“Like you needed to get any uglier.” Robby laughed. 

“Bitch, I’m hot and you know it!” 

“You look like you lost a fight with a lawnmower.” Robby commented.

“Well, you look like a sunburnt potato.” Aidan replied, referring to Robby’s burns. 

“Girls, please.” Krissy said, exasperated. “You’re both pretty.”

Robby looked… happy. At peace. 

_ Will he ever look at me like that? _

“Josie here too?” Robby asked, hopefully.

Krissy shook her head. “Working a case with Donna. The one you guys had to hand-off.”

The name caught Johnny’s attention, making him sit up in his chair.

“Donna…?” He wondered out loud. “Wait… the dumb sheriff from Stillwater?”

“Dumb?” Robby scoffed. “Fooled you, didn’t she?”

_ Ofcourse… it all made sense now. She knew who Robby was all along and she was protecting him. Stalling them to give him enough time to get away… _

“She’s… one of you?” Johnny asked, trying to wrap his head around it.

“You betcha...” Robby replied, faking an exaggerated Minnesota accent. 

“Should’ve seen her, Kris...” Aidan said, laughing. “Thought she was gonna have these guys tearing their hair out...”

_ This is not my place,  _ Johnny thought as he saw the three of them laughing and joking.  _ Robby needs this right now… needs to be with them, to smile, to laugh… and he doesn’t need me here. Not right now. _

“I’ll… give you guys a minute.” Johnny said awkwardly before stepping out.

_ Atleast he has friends. Friends who obviously care for him… love him… who’d even die for him. And he for them… _

_ Whatever else those guys got him into, atleast they gave him that.  _

* * *

It took two whole days for Miguel to gather the courage to go see Robby. The kid was… conflicted. Still uncertain of what to believe… how to cope with the new reality he’d been thrust into and where Robby fit into that. Part of him blamed Robby for getting them into this mess and another part felt guilty for almost getting him killed. He resented him for the lies and was grateful to him for the truth. And above all, he had no idea where to go from here. 

And as far as the two of them were concerned, Johnny didn’t either. 

“Hey - uh - how are you doing?” Miguel asked as he limped into Robby’s room, leaning on the crutch. 

“Fine.” Robby replied, jerking his head towards Miguel’s leg. “You’re keeping that clean, I hope. Would hate to have to kill you if you turned into a hellhound.”

It felt like someone just pulled the rug from under him. And the way Miguel’s leg shook… Johnny barely caught him in time.

“Just kidding.” Robby said, smirking mischievously. “It’s not a werewolf.”

“Dude… that was messed up.” Miguel said, breathing hard with relief. 

Robby shrugged and went back to his laptop, pointedly ignoring the two of them. 

Miguel looked at Johnny a little uncertainly. They’d discussed what he’d say to Robby - and what he shouldn’t - and Johnny nodded encouragingly, telling him to go ahead. 

“I - uh - wanted to thank you for saving my ass.” Miguel started. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“That’s the job.” Robby replied casually without looking up. 

_ Saving people, hunting things… that’s what he’d said, right? _

“Also… sorry for pulling a gun on you.” Miguel added. “If it makes you feel any better, I could’ve never pulled the trigger… but I guess you knew that already.”

“Hmm...”

Miguel looked at Johnny again, as if asking for permission. 

“Sam and I… we aren’t together anymore.” He went on. “Being obsessed with you kinda broke us apart.”

Johnny waited with bated breath for Robby’s response. They’d discussed telling him that but… Miguel wasn’t supposed to make it sound like Robby’s fault. 

“Sam isn’t obsessed with me.” Robby replied, evenly. “She never loved me.”

“No… uh… I was obsessed with you.” Miguel clarified. “With finding you, I mean...”

That made Robby look up with a sliver of interest. 

“That’s on you, not me.” Robby said coldly. “Don’t go blaming me for - ”

“I’m not.” Miguel clarified hastily. “I just - I was trying to - ”

“What?” Robby asked, irritated. 

“Just figured you’d want to know...” Miguel finished lamely. 

“I didn’t.” Robby replied, before going back to the screen. 

Miguel sighed, looking at Johnny helplessly before once again turning to his former rival. 

“The last match we had...” He hesitated. “Y-you should’ve won it.”

That made Robby look up again. 

“The kick… it was legal.” Miguel admitted. “It was on my thigh… it should’ve counted as a third point.”

Robby shook his head. “Knew you were faking it.” He turned to Johnny. “And you were in on it?”

Johnny shook his head dumbly. 

_ The kick was legal? Robby had won… which means, Kreese had won? _

“No one was in on it.” Miguel said immediately. “And I didn’t fake anything. My whole weight was on that leg and I was off-balance… I did twist my knee pretty bad. But… the kick wasn’t illegal.”

Robby looked away angrily. 

“I… wanted to come clean… after...” Miguel confessed. “But… beating Kreese was so important to everyone… I thought...”

“Bullshit.” Robby growled under his breath before turning towards him. “Kreese went to prison for beating the crap out of me. Assault on a minor. They weren’t gonna let him out even if the committee had changed their mind.”

“You’re right.” Miguel nodded. “I just… wanted to win. And I didn’t think about what it cost you.”

Robby considered his words for a moment and then shook his head. 

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked, sounding skeptical.

“I-I’m trying to… apologize, I guess...”

“No - why are you doing this?” Robby clarified. “Why are you bringing up this old shit? You think I care about some dumb tournament from 2 years ago? About some girl I used to have a crush on? I moved on, okay? You should try it.”

“I’m trying to.” Miguel argued. “I don’t… want us to hate each-other anymore. I don’t want there to be reasons for us to fight.”

“There aren’t any.” Robby replied, shrugging. “Atleast, not for me.”

Miguel looked at Johnny helplessly again, but Johnny had made up his mind to let him handle it. Because Robby was certainly going to take any involvement from him as him taking Miguel’s side. 

“I just figured...” Miguel tried again. “If the two of us can be friends...”

“We can’t.” Robby refused flatly. “Just because I don’t hate you doesn’t mean I have to like you, alright? We don’t have to get along. I don’t need this. I have a life and a job that I’d like to get back to and it doesn’t involve you.”

Defeated and deflated, Miguel left the room without another word, leaving Johnny standing there, uncertain about whether to stay or go. 

“Or you.” Robby added, not looking up.

* * *

_ Possessed by evil… _

_ Lost in darkness… _

_ His life is in danger… _

Johnny couldn’t get his friend’s words out of his head. Bobby had clearly known… something. He’d been right about everything after all…

Well, almost everything… Johnny wasn’t needed to save him from darkness after all. Someone else already did that and now his son was a goddamn hero. He was a badass kid who did things way more badass than Johnny could’ve imagined. 

Which meant… t hat his life was still in danger. 

Johnny had picked up on the snippets of conversations here and there. Dean - and his freakishly tall brother Sam - were involved in something really dangerous. Something that kept calling them away from Robby. And Robby couldn’t wait for his arm to heal so he could get back in action as well.

_ He is going to hunt again… he’s going to get better and go after demons and hellhounds and God knows what else. And given how the last one went… _

_ He’s going to end up dead. Sooner or later, if he keeps fighting those things, he’ll end up dead.  _

“Sensei?” Miguel’s voice drew him out of his thoughts. “What now?”

Johnny shrugged. 

“I mean… I gave it my best shot with him.” Miguel argued. “You saw that, right?”

Johnny smiled regretfully. “That’s the same excuse I used to use.” He told Miguel. “‘I gave it my best shot. He doesn’t want me around. So it’s okay to give up’...”

“It’s not the same.”

“Yeah.” Johnny agreed. “No one’s gonna blame you for giving up...”

Miguel leaned back in his chair, tilting his head up and staring at the ceiling. 

“Why does he still hate me so much?” He asked. “I get that he thinks I took everything from him… but now, he says he doesn’t care about that stuff. So if he doesn’t care about it, why does he hate me?”

“I don’t think he hates you.” Johnny replied. “I think he hates how you made him feel all this time.”

“How’s that?”

“Like… he wasn’t good enough.” Johnny sighed. “Miguel… no matter what happened, people kept choosing you over him. Not just me, but your friends, Sam, even LaRusso… you always had people in your corner, people fighting their hardest to help you out. But Robby...” Johnny shook his head. “He must have wondered, right? What was wrong with him? Why wasn’t he good enough to fight for?”

Johnny turned to see Miguel looking down at his hands guiltily. 

“That isn’t on you though.” He added. “We screwed up… I screwed up… and if I’d tried harder when I had the chance...”

“Can’t you just tell Robby that?” Miguel asked. 

“He knows already - up here.” Johnny replied, tapping his head. “But in his heart… feelings can be complicated. And they don’t always make sense. Like how you still haven’t forgiven Robby, even though you know now that there is nothing there to forgive...”

Miguel didn’t even try to deny it. 

“I’m trying to.” He replied. “I keep telling myself… but then, it’s his face I see… his hands, snapping her neck...”

“I know.” Johnny nodded. “It’s okay. Give it time… and give him time.”

“But, we don’t have time. You know that, right?” Miguel pointed out. “Robby’s gonna get discharged in a day or two and then he’s going to disappear with those friends of his to God knows where. And we won’t even know...” 

Miguel thought of something else and looked at Johnny strangely. 

“Sensei… what’s the plan now?” He asked. “We’re obviously not gonna do what we came here to… so what are we gonna do?”

“What do you mean?” Johnny chuckled. “The plan’s the same. You want revenge for your mom and I want to save my son.”

“But Robby didn’t...” Miguel shook his head, confused. 

“Yeah - but the demon did.” Johnny replied. “That thing is still out there - and apparently, it can be killed. So what do you say, kid?”

“Kill a  _ demon? _ ” Miguel’s eyes bugged out at the idea. “That’s...  _ insane. _ ”

Johnny gave him a moment to absorb it… to get used to it. 

“H-how…?”

“Let me figure that out.” Johnny replied. “I think I’ve got a plan...”

_ This is not about some demon… it’s about Robby. Always remember… he comes first. He may not be lost in darkness, but it’s clear that he has a deathwish. And those “friends” of his are just gonna milk it for all it’s worth. And he’ll let them… _

_ Which is why he needs you. He doesn’t see it now, but he needs you to save him… _


	8. Intruders

_ A man with a plan. You’re a man with a plan Johnny… so be the man with the plan. _

He found the guy - Sam - out in the parking lot, leaning against an old classic car ( _ Is that a Chevy Impala? Sweet. _ ) He was thankful to have found this one - instead of the other one. That one - Dean - had seemed like more of a hardass. 

“Hey. Sam, right?” Johnny said, as he approached. 

The long-haired man nodded, standing up straighter. “Mr. Lawrence. What can I do for you?”

_ Formal? That’s good, right? More likely to be polite and not tell me to fuck-off? _

“So… Robby’s getting discharged soon.” Johnny started. “But, his arm’s still broken. So, he can’t hunt right now… right?”

“Right.” Sam agreed. “We’re gonna take him home. Give him time to rest up. Heal.”

Johnny nodded, gratefully. “And you guys will stay with him to take care of him?”

“As long as we can.” Sam replied evenly. 

_ Not as long as we have to… meaning, as long as we have nothing better to do… _

“Well… it’s gonna take some time for him to heal.” Johnny said, as diplomatically as he could. “And… I know you guys are busy with important stuff. Save the world stuff - ”

“What are you getting at?” Sam asked a little defensively. 

_ Don’t piss him off. You need him on your side.  _

“Nothing.” Johnny replied immediately. “Just want to make sure my kid’s taken care of.”

“With all due respect, I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Sam said in a chilly tone. “Given that you abandoned him to rot in the streets in the first place.”

The words hit Johnny like a punch and made him close his eyes in regret. 

_ I’m never going to live that down. And I shouldn’t… that was the worst mistake I ever made in my life… _

“I screwed up.” Johnny admitted. It went against all his instincts to admit it to a practical stranger, but he did it anyway. “Haven’t you ever screwed up and desperately looked for a chance to make it right?”

Sam didn’t reply - but his expression did soften a little. And Johnny took that as a good sign. 

“I know I don’t have the right to ask anything here but...” Johnny sighed. “I just want to take care of him for once.”

“Until something better comes along?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah - I guess I deserved that one too.” Johnny nodded. “Look, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, alright? And when it comes to Robby, mistakes are all I’ve ever made. But I want to do better now… be better. And I know Robby will never give me a chance on his own. He doesn’t trust me. But he trusts you guys and - ”

“Alright.” Sam cut him off, nodding. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it?” Johnny frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll talk to Dean about it and then...” Sam gave him a half-smile. “We’ll think about it.”

* * *

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Johnny sighed in frustration. Two days of waiting in a shitty motel… two days of wondering whether the Winchesters were actually gonna call and he still hadn’t managed to figure out a way to sell this to Robby.  Ofcourse the kid was going to be pissed off. Anyone who knew him could see it coming a mile away. 

“Who the hell let you in? This place is...” Robby trailed off, looking angrily at Dean and Sam. “Guys… what the hell?”

“He’s here to help.” Dean replied, calmly. 

“Help with what?” Robby asked incredulously. “He doesn’t know anything about all this. And...” His eyes fell on Miguel, standing awkwardly behind Johnny. “What the hell do we need him for?”

“Hey… language.” Sam said sternly. “He’s here to take care of you, okay? We got a lead on the thing controlling those hellhounds and you can’t be out there yet.”

“I’ll be fine on my own.” Robby argued stubbornly. “I don’t need him to hold my dick while I take a piss.”

“Yeah? How are you gonna cook?” Dean asked him. “Or change one handed? You need help and Johnny offered, so - ”

“Then just drop me off at Jody’s.” Robby replied. “Or with Krissy. She’s taking care of Aidan anyway.”

“Dude, we’re not gonna lug you around all over the country.” Dean told him. “He’s here and he’s helping you - so deal with it.”

“It’s just for a few weeks.” Sam took a more conciliatory tone.

But Robby wasn’t going to admit defeat so easily. He glared at Johnny, breathing hard and angry. 

“What are you really doing here?” He asked, his jaw clenched. “You really expect me to believe that you are just here to help?”

_ Why is that so hard to believe? Why can’t you just accept that I care about you? _

Johnny already knew the answer to that. 

“I am here to help.” Johnny replied. “But not just that. I need… we need to know more about this stuff. About demons and stuff.”

“Why?” Robby asked scornfully. “You wanna be a hunter now?”

_ If that’s what it takes to keep you safe… _

“I don’t know.” Johnny admitted. “All I know is that I need to learn to protect myself and the ones I care about from stuff like this. If what happened before happens again - ”

“It won’t.” Robby said, confidently. “Not if you stay out of it. This isn’t your fight.”

“C’mon, Robby - you know it doesn’t work like that.” Dean told him. “Demons don’t care if someone is in the fight or not. If they sense a weakness… a vulnerability...”

“This could work out for everybody.” Sam added. “You can get some help until you are all better… and you can teach them a thing or two about protecting themselves. If you could just let go of the past...”

“I have let it go.” Robby insisted, stubbornly. 

“Then what’s the problem?” Dean asked, smirking.

Robby was rendered speechless for but a moment. 

“You’re not supposed to just let randos like him in here, okay? That’s the problem.” He said in a bit. “This place is supposed to be secure. Protected. It should only be for the people you trust.”

“Well… they’re here already.” Dean shrugged. “So it’s too late for that.”

Robby looked at them - all of them - with suspicion and anger. Like he was trying to figure something out.

“You guys are up to something.” He said, finally. “I don’t know what, but there is something here… and I  _ will  _ figure it out.”

* * *

In no way, shape or form did the place deserve to be called a “bunker”. It was bigger than the mansion Johnny had grown up in and if Robby was to be believed, half the items in there were something Sid wouldn’t be able to afford with his lifetime of accumulated wealth. 

Which was the reason he gave for being so jealously protective of the place. 

“Don’t want you stealing anything.” He’d said, practically daring Johnny to contradict him. 

Despite his limited access though, Johnny saw more than enough to impress the hell out of him. And as for Miguel, nerd that he was…

“So all these books are about practicing magic?” He’d asked, peeking over Johnny's shoulder to to see the grimoire he'd been holding. 

“Yeah - and that’s dangerous stuff.” Robby had snapped, snatching it away from him. “Not for amateurs.”

_ He’s testing me… pushing me away… trying to make me leave… _

_ That’s what he always does, right? Push people to see who sticks around and who doesn’t? Can’t believe it took me so long to see it.  _

He wasn’t going to let Robby succeed. Not this time. 

Not that Robby made it easy on him. The comments and the comparisons started the very next day. 

The pantry was fully stocked, thankfully. Well enough for even Johnny to scrounge something up.

“Better to have a home-cooked meal, right?” He said, optimistically. 

“This?” Robby scoffed. “Please… Dean makes way better stuff. He’s a great cook.”

Or later when Johnny was looking for bandages to change Miguel’s dressing. 

“Can you just ask me when you are looking for something?” Robby said, irritated. “Sam spent a lot of time arranging the stuff in here. So we can find it right away in an emergency. Don’t go messing it up on your own.”

“If you take out a book from the library, make sure you put it back in the same place. Sam would be pissed if you mess up his system.”

“Don’t go randomly touching stuff. Are you insane? Some of those objects could be cursed. And if you break one of them, Dean’s gonna kill you...”

“Dean’s badass… like the badass-est person you’re ever gonna see. He once took out a whole nest of vamps on his own. Like, fifty of them.”

It was Sam and Dean… Dean and Sam… all the goddamn time. Clearly Robby worshipped the ground those two walked on… and equally clearly, they were taking advantage of that. 

They called in three days later, asking Robby to look into everything he could find about opening a devil’s gate and Robby jumped into action right away. Hefty tomes, dusty old boxes full of files, manuscripts in strange languages… Robby pored over all of the for hours until Johnny couldn’t take it anymore. 

“You should be resting.” Johnny told him. “You’ve been at this for - ”

“Shut up!” Robby snapped, without looking up.

“Atleast let me help!” Johnny begged. “Let me go through some of that.”

“What would be the point? ”Robby scoffed. “I’ll end up having to go through it anyway.”

It’d be one thing if it was just research… but despite his injury, Robby wouldn’t slack off on his training either. Johnny found him the next day in the training room, swinging a sick looking machete around one-handed.

“Karate not good enough for you?” He asked, a little concerned. Those moves looked like they were meant to cut off someone’s head in one swoop.

“When you are facing things with claws and fangs...” Robby huffed. “No, it’s not good enough.”

“And this can’t wait until you are better?”

Robby scoffed. “You think the monsters are gonna give me a pass because my arm’s broken?” He shook his head. “I need to be prepared for shit like this. I need to be able to do this stuff one-handed because you never know...”

_ When something like this might happen again,  _ Johnny thought with a chill going through him. It wasn’t just that Robby was preparing for the possibility of something like this happening - he was actually expecting it. 

None of that, however, compared to what he saw the next day.

* * *

Miguel was the one to find Robby like that…

“SENSEI!” The desperation in the voice made Johnny rush over as fast as he could. 

Robby was kneeling on the floor, his nails scratching the marbled floor, mumbling a litany of “no’s” and “please’s”.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him.” Miguel said, panicking. “I found him like this and - ”

“Robby!” Johnny knelt down in front of him, pulling him up by his shoulder. “Hey! Look at me! What’s wrong?”

It didn’t seem like Robby saw him at all. His eyes were fixed on Miguel.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to...” He begged. “I’m sorry… please… stop...”

_ What’s wrong with him? Is this possession? Some other kind of attack? They said he was supposed to be safe here… _

“I wanted… I tried...” Robby kept begging. “Please...”

His mind wasn’t there. What was he hearing? What was he seeing?

“C’mon! Focus!” Johnny shouted, gently slapping his face. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

His eyes seemed to focus on Johnny for a moment. 

“I wasn’t good enough for you...” He mumbled. “I tried to… but it was never good enough… But I  _ will _ be!”

There was a spark in his eyes for a moment.

“Pain! Use pain!”

_ Pain? What? _

Johnny looked down to see Robby digging his fingers into the meat of his palm… right where he’d cut it to draw his blood.

“Hey! Stop that!” He grabbed his wrist, trying to forcefully pry his fingers open while avoiding too much pressure on the broken arm.

Robby didn’t seem to notice. He squeezed his eyes shut and his nails dug in until they drew blood. His breathing was hard… like he was having a panic attack. 

And then, all of a sudden, he calmed down.

His fist loosened and Robby slumped back, breathing more calmly now. His eyes opened and they were back to being cold and distant.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked coldly. 

“What are we…?” Johnny shook his head incredulously. “What the hell was that? What was happening to you?”

“Training.” Robby shrugged, trying to get up. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“No! You don’t get to do that.” Johnny yelled angrily. “Not after scaring me half to death. What kind of training - ?”

“It’s mental training.” Robby replied, sounding too tired to argue. “I took a little djinn venom.”

That confused Johnny. “Gin? Are you… drunk?”

“No… djinn.” Robby sighed. “As in a genie.”

Both Miguel and Johnny looked at each-other confused. 

“It’s a kind of monster.” Robby explained. “It doesn’t grant wishes, but it’s venom can make you think it has. Or it can make you hallucinate your worst nightmares.”

_ His worst nightmares… _

_ "Not good enough for you…" _

“You meant to take it?” Miguel asked, still horrified. “Why? To build immunity or something?”

“Or something.” Robby replied. “A lot of monsters attack your mind… use your worst fears and failures against you. I need to know how to push past it.”

This wasn’t right… this wasn’t normal…

Was this what those guys were doing to his kid? Making him relive his worst fears and nightmares over and over again?

“Robby...” Johnny could barely speak. “It sounded like… torture.”

“Torture? Sure.” Robby scoffed. “But it’s no different from karate. No pain, no gain.”

It wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be.

“Miguel - could you give us a minute?” Johnny asked. 

Miguel nodded and gratefully left, still freaked out by the whole thing. 

“Let me guess - time for another dad lecture?” Robby said, sarcastically. 

“Call it whatever you want...” Johnny replied, shaking his head. “Robby… this… all this… it’s messed up. What the hell are you doing here? Letting yourself get hurt? Hurting yourself like this? Is this what those guys have gotten you into?”

“Fuck you!” Robby said, indignantly. “You don’t know them. Sam and Dean are goddamn heroes. You think you were helping kids with your stupid little karate dojo? Those two literally saved the world - more than once - and they went through hell doing that.”

“Well, good for them!” Johnny replied. “Doesn’t mean I want my kid to go through hell too. Whatever their fight is, it doesn’t have to be yours.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Robby agreed. “I’m choosing to make it mine.”

“Robby… listen to me...”

“Why? Why would I ever listen to you?”

_ Because I’m your father. Because I care about you. Because I want what’s best for you. _

“Because I’m trying to save you...”

“Save me?” Robby gave him a hollow laugh. “I don’t need you to save me. Sam and Dean already did. They saved me from that demon. They saved me from myself. They gave me a home… a purpose… some meaning to my life. They’ve cared more about me in the year I’ve been with them than you have my whole life. They are my real family, not you.”

_ Why doesn’t he realize…? Why can’t he see…? _

“They’re using you.” Johnny insisted. “They recruited you into their war and they’ll keep using you until you are dead.”

What was that look on his face? Scorn? Disdain? Disgust?

“Just get out of here...” Robby mumbled, too tired to argue.

Johnny sighed. “Okay… I’ll leave you alone for now - ”

“No - get out of the bunker.” Robby clarified. “And get out of my life. I don’t want you here. I don’t need you here. Why don’t you get it?”

“Robby...”

“If I have to hear one more bullshit excuse about how you screwed up and how you are trying, I swear to Jack...” Robby sighed again. “I’ve got a good thing going here, alright? I don’t need you to ruin this for me like you ruined everything else in my life. So just get out and leave me alone.”

“I’m not trying to - ”

Robby pushed him. Hard. Hard enough to send him sprawling back on the floor. 

Then he got up and left the room without a backward glance. 


	9. Belonging

_ I don’t belong here… _

The thought had occurred to Miguel more than once since he’d been here. Never before had he felt less welcome at a place… not even Miyagi-Do… and Robby made damn sure he never forgot it. 

“Bobby’s gonna swing by. With Charlie.” Sam was saying over the phone. “Gonna need you to prep some stuff for him to pick-up.”

“Got it.” Robby replied, curtly. “What do they need?”

“Anti-tracking hex-bags.” Sam listed. “Silver bullets. Consecrated iron rounds - ”

“Just text him a list.” Dean’s voice chimed in from the background.

“I’ll get it ready.” Robby said, calm and professional. “So, is this just a restock visit?”

“They might be around for a while.” Sam replied. “Bobby caught a weird one. He’s gonna need to do some research. Might stick around until he figures it out.”

“Okay...” Robby’s voice was nonchalant, but Miguel still saw the slight twitch of his lips. 

“We can help with this stuff too.” Johnny jumped in with the offer. “Just tell us what to do and Miguel and I can pitch in.”

“Thanks, but I got this.” Robby refused coldly.

“Dude, just let them help.” Sam sounded tired. “It’s good to know this stuff.”

_ Now or never, Diaz. _

“Uh… can I go through some books too?” Miguel asked, just now realizing that this was the first time he’d actually spoken to Sam Winchester. “I… uh… wanted to learn a bit more about - ”

“That stuff is dangerous.” Robby interrupted. “Sam… back me up here.”

Sam seemed to hesitate. “Uh… yeah, it is dangerous… but not knowing about it can be dangerous too. Just… let him go through the Key of Solomon. We can work our way up from there.”

Robby did not like that… he did not like that at all.

“You think this is some kind of game?” He asked, when he handed Miguel the ancient book. “Like some school project where you have to get an A?”

“I don’t.” Miguel replied. “I know this is serious.”

“Then treat it like it is.”

“I’m trying.” Miguel argued. “What’s your problem? Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?”

Like what indeed?

There was something not right here about the way Robby was acting towards him, but Miguel couldn’t put his finger on it. 

He knew Robby felt guilty about the past. Any doubts he might’ve had in that regard were laid to rest when he’d caught the guy during his bad acid trip. And given how self-destructive - almost suicidal - he’d been that night with the hellhounds…

But Robby didn’t act guilty. He didn’t act contrite or ashamed or depressed. He acted like this cool, confident guy who was just pissed off at having to deal with them. 

He acted like he still hated Miguel… like he still blamed him for everything that had gone wrong in his life. But then, at the same time, he was willing to lay down his life to save Miguel’s? That didn’t make any sense at all. 

Robby Keene was a completely different person now. There was no doubt about it. Hell, he was a goddamn, badass, action-hero who kicked demon ass. So why was he acting like the old Robby Keene around them?

* * *

So Charlie turned out to be a girl… and definitely not what Miguel had been expecting. He’d figured female hunters would’ve been more… stoic. Tough-as-nails. Amazonian. Definitely not the type to squee like that while hugging Robby. 

“This is my dad - Johnny Lawrence.” Robby made the introductions and Charlie smiled brightly at them. “And his student… Miguel.”

“Miguel… Diaz?” Charlie asked, her voice a mixture of wonder and amusement. “Not the guy who…?”

“Yes.” Robby replied, tersely. 

Miguel felt self-conscious all of a sudden. What had Robby told her? How had he made her hate him before they’d even met?

But Charlie didn’t look like she hated him.

“I’m really sorry...” She said, barely looking sorry at all.

“What?” Miguel asked, looking at Robby. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is nobody ain’t helping me out here.” An older, much grumpier voice chimed in. “Thought you damn youngsters were supposed to have some respect for the elderly.”

Right… the other guy. Bobby Singer. Now he had the attitude of a hunter, if not the body. 

“Well… you ladies gonna stand there gabbing or are you gonna help me lug stuff in?” 

“Can’t.” Robby replied. “Broken arm… but dad can help. Can’t you dad?”

It was probably meant as a dig, but Miguel knew Johnny was happy about any chance he got from Robby to actually help. He followed the old guy outside without a complaint, allowing Miguel to get back to the subject he’d dropped. 

“So what was the whole sorry thing about?”

“It’s about your website.” Robby replied, sighing. “I asked Charlie to mess with it.”

“My web - ” And then it hit him… the site he’d setup to gather information on Robby. “You did what?”

“Linked it to all the conspiracy nut groups.” Charlie explained. “And not just the site… every thread you made, every posting...”

“You… hacked me?” Miguel was incredulous. “And then you… stalked me?”

“Oh.. no!” Charlie seemed offended. “Who has time for that? I just setup a bot to flood it with the dredges of the internet.”

All that time he’d spent… wasted… going through each and every line, every comment…

“You were messing with me?”

“No, we were trying to throw you off.” Robby replied. “I couldn’t have your vendetta messing with my hunts. You were actually starting to get some good leads. You’d have just put it up again if we’d shut it down, so we decided to flood it instead.”

That… kind of made sense. Didn’t make it any less diabolical though. 

Miguel was still absorbing the information when Bobby and Johnny came back in… the latter looking a little pale and kinda green. The luggage they were bringing in… an oddly shaped duffel bag… no, a rolled up carpet…

“Is that a dead body?” Miguel asked, his eyes going wide. 

“Well, I ain’t dragging in a live one.” Bobby replied. 

Was this supposed to be normal now? People dragging in dead bodies where they lived. 

“It’s the victim.” Charlie explained. “It has some weird symbols carved inside. We need to figure out what did it.”

_ Sure… why not? _

* * *

He wasn’t supposed to be here. This room - the archives room - was one of the places expressly forbidden to him according to Robby. But he’d let his curiosity get the better of him, banking on their guests to keep Robby distracted. 

And that’s how he found himself jumping behind the shelves when he heard the others come in.

“It’s here somewhere.” He heard Robby say. “Sam’s pretty anal about this stuff.”

Bobby grunted in agreement as they started looking through the shelves for… whatever it was they were searching for. 

_ Please don’t let them find me like this. Like a kid hiding in his dad’s study. That’ll be so humiliating… _

“So… you gonna tell me what’s got your panties in a bunch?” Bobby asked after a while. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Robby replied curtly. 

“Well, you are being awfully quiet for one.” Bobby explained. “Is this about your old man being here? Don’t seem that bad to me.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t know him.” 

“I know shitty dads though.” Bobby said. “Trust me kid - mine was the worse. Atleast yours is here. He’s trying.”

“Yeah… until he finds something better to do.” Robby scoffed back. “Don't buy his caring act, alright? He’s not really here for me.”

“That other kid?” Bobby asked, thoughtfully. “That’s what this is about?”

_ Shit… they are talking about me now. I definitely should not be eavesdropping.  _

“Seems pretty harmless.” Bobby shrugged. 

“He’s not.” Robby snapped. “And he doesn’t belong here. Can we just drop this?”

Bobby did… for all of two minutes. 

“Thought you’d let go of the past...”

“I have.” Robby said, stubbornly. “It’s the past that’s not letting go of me. Those two… showing up here… and Sam and Dean - ”

The piqued Miguel’s interest… and apparently, Bobby’s as well. 

“What do you mean?”

“Why did Sam and Dean let them in?” Robby asked, sighing and turning to face the elder. “I know it’s not some bullshit about taking care of me. They could’ve just dropped me off at Jody’s. And… even if they thought they should let my dad in here, why Miguel too?”

“I’m sure they have their reasons.” Bobby suggested thoughtfully.

“What’s that? Teaching me a lesson?” Robby asked. “That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve been getting too big for my boots and they want me to know my place? This is their way of telling me that I’m not special… that they can replace me any time they want.”

“Kid...” Miguel could hear the exasperation in Bobby’s voice. “If you think you can be replaced that easily, you are a bigger idjit than I thought. Those guys ain’t gonna replace you… especially not with him.”

“Then what else could it be?” Robby asked, frustrated. “I know Sam and Dean don’t like getting others involved in this life. I had to fight tooth and nail just to get my foot in the door. And they let Miguel just walk in…?”

Robby took in a shaking breath.

“This is how it always is.” He said. “I gotta fight and scrape for every little bit I get and Diaz just waltzes in and people can’t wait to give him everything he wants. It happened in the life I left behind… and now it’s happening again.”

“It ain’t.” Bobby said, confidently. “Take it from me - the Winchesters ain’t gonna replace you with the next messed up kid they find, okay? You mean more to them than that. If anything, they let that kid in here to show you that you can’t be replaced.”

“What do you mean?” Robby asked, curiously. 

“Look, I don’t know that kid.” Bobby replied. “But from what little I saw, he ain’t got what you do. He ain’t cut out for this life. And bet you dollars to donuts, Sam and Dean see that too. That’s why they let him in so easy.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Robby argued. 

“Sure does.” Bobby replied. “They know he’s not here to stay… so no harm in letting him stick around for a bit. But they knew you were different from the start. So...”

Was that all? Miguel wondered as he squirmed uncomfortably in his hiding place. 

What part of that was he supposed to believe? And what part was he supposed to feel good about? Was he just a pawn in whatever game those Winchesters were playing? Here only to make Robby feel better about himself?

But this had been Sensei’s plan. He’d been the one to suggest it… to approach them… And Miguel still trusted Johnny. Wholeheartedly. And Johnny would never use him like that. 

But Johnny’s plan also involved him getting his revenge on the demon who’d killed his mom. Which… sure, Miguel wanted too… but did that mean being a hunter? Did he want that too?

And he wasn’t cut out for it, apparently? And Robby was? Why? Because he wasn’t tough enough? Or badass enough?

This thing was getting all kinds of screwy now….

* * *

Miguel wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. Sure, he understood Robby better now, understood where the guy was coming from and why he had a problem with him… but that wasn’t Miguel’s doing. It wasn’t like Miguel was out to get the guy or anything.

“I was never trying to hurt you.” Miguel spoke up impulsively. 

Robby looked up from his laptop, expressionless and Miguel realized how lame those words must have sounded. 

“What I mean is… there are two sides to every story.” Miguel explained. “And you never even tried to understand my side. How’s that fair?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Diaz?” Robby asked. 

He was rambling… he wasn’t making any sense… and he didn’t know how to make it make sense.

“I’m trying to say that I get why you have a problem with me.” Miguel tried explaining again. “Sensei, Sam… even Mr. LaRusso… you think I took them all from you, right? That you were left with nothing because of me? But I was never trying to take anything from you.”

“Yeah...” Robby agreed quietly. “You never even had to try..”

There was no winning with this guy, was there? No matter what you said…

“Alright... Fine then.” Miguel said, accepting it. “Let’s keep it professional. Whatever you have going on here, I don’t want to get into it. But our interests are aligned. You want to be a hunter, right? Go after demons? And I want to go after the thing that killed my mom and my brother. Make sure it pays for what it did. Can we cooperate with each-other until that atleast?”

Robby stared at him, confused. 

“Diaz, the thing that killed your mom is already in hell.” He told him. “It’s already paying for what it did. It’s getting tortured every day. So what exactly do you want here?”

“I-I...” Miguel wasn’t sure. “I want to make sure it’s dead. That it can’t kill anyone again.”

“So what’s the plan?” Robby asked. “You want to drag it out of hell just so you can kill it? You have any idea how dumb that is?”

No… not that. Miguel wasn’t that stupid. 

“But it can get out on it’s own, right?” Miguel argued. “It got out once before.”

“Maybe in a century or two.” Robby replied. “What are you gonna do? Just hang around waiting for that to happen?”

No… that didn’t make sense either.

“There are others.” Miguel tried something else. “Other demons that were helping it. The ones that are planning something, right? If I can help stop them...”

“So you do want to be a hunter?”

“No...” Miguel shrank back, uncertain. “I...”

“Dude - that’s what hunters do.” Robby told him. “They’re just not this half-assed about it.”

“I-I… don’t know.” Miguel admitted. “God, this is all so fucked up. Things were so much simpler when I just had you to hate. Now… it’s all so messed up.”

Robby nodded quietly. 

“Then figure it out.” He told Miguel. “Because doing things half-assed like that, that’s what gets you killed.” ****

* * *

The blaring alarm made Miguel shoot up in his bed in panic. He’d never heard anything so loud… so urgent.  Nothing that so clearly said that something was very, very wrong.  And the red lights flashing in the hallway confirmed his fears. 

He ran into Johnny rushing out of his own room on his way to the hall. 

“Sensei… what…?”

“I don’t know.” Johnny replied, pushing past him on his way out and Miguel followed on his heels. 

The others had already jumped into action. Bobby had just finished barking orders when they got there and Robby and Charlie ran to comply.

“What the hell is - ?” Johnny started, but no one had time for him.

“Stay here! Don’t move.” Bobby ordered on his way out. 

_ Something’s wrong. Something’s very, very wrong… _

“Sensei… what do we do?” Miguel asked. 

Johnny just shook his head helplessly. They were both next to useless in this situation and could do nothing but wait for the others to come back. 

Robby made it back first, hastily wrapping a cloth around his freshly bloodied hand. 

“Robby, what - ?” Johnny started. 

“We don’t know yet.” Robby answered the unasked question. “The bunker just went into lockdown out of nowhere. It usually means that something really bad just happened or is about to happen.”

“Bad like…?”

“Hell breaking loose.” Robby’s voice was a mixture of fear and exasperation. “Maybe some ancient evil waking up from its slumber. I really don’t know right now. We’re trying to figure it out.”

“Shouldn’t we call the Winchesters?” Johnny asked. “This is their wheelhouse, right?”

Robby shook his head. “Nothing goes in or out of here when this place is locked down. Not even phone calls.”

Johnny swallowed. And then his eyes darted downwards, falling upon Robby’s hand. 

“Robby… what did you do?”

“Huh?” Robby followed his gaze down to see what he was looking at. “Oh… yeah. Had to activate the secondary warding in this place. Just a precaution.”

Whatever Johnny had to say to that was interrupted by Charlie rushing in. 

“Anything?” Robby asked. 

Charlie shook her head. “No omens. No disasters. Nothing. The computer says it’s all normal. No sign of the world being in danger.”

“Which means...” Bobby came in next. “This is closer to home. Good thing we were here to stock up.”

He dumped the heavy duffel bag on the table and the other two moved in unison. Without exchanging a word, they were all pulling out weapons - shotguns, handguns, knives, silver spikes, salt canisters, bottles of holy water…

“Hey!” Robby said, snapping Miguel out of his horrified thoughts. “You said you knew how to use this?”

Miguel stared down at the gun Robby was holding out towards him. He nodded numbly. 

“Just point and shoot.” Robby said, sliding another one towards Johnny.

_ What’s happening? What’s going on? It’s like that night all over again… _

He looked upwards to pray… and that’s when he saw it. 

The place had high windows and on clear nights, Miguel was usually able to see the moonlit sky outside. But now all he saw was darkness broken by flashes of thunder.

“Guys...” He said, scared. 

They all looked up.

“Dammit!” Bobby growled. 

“What is that?” Johnny asked. “A storm?”

“Demons.” Robby replied, his voice trembling. “It’s a whole horde of demons, attacking us...”


	10. Besieged

Miguel didn’t know how long they stood there like that, staring up at the swirling black cloud outside the skylight. They were all waiting… waiting for those things to break in and swarm them… to rip them apart.  The bunker kept blaring it’s alarm, the lights kept flashing… and nothing happened. 

“They… can’t get in.” Charlie said in awe, her legs almost giving out in relief. “The warding held.”

Robby nodded, giving her a nervous half-smile and putting his gun down.

“For now.” Johnny reminded them. “We had warding back at the cabin too. The hellhounds still broke through after - ”

“It’s not like that, dad.” Robby told him. “The protection in this place is on a whole other level. If they had a way to break in, they’d have done it already. They’re not getting in.”

“Ain’t no excuse to let your guard down, kid.” Bobby said, gruffly. “We still don’t know what these sons-of-bitches are upto.”

Robby nodded and they all waited…

And waited…

And waited…

“Nothing’s happening.” Miguel spoke up. 

“Yeah...” Bobby agreed. “Something about this not feel right to you guys?”

_ What about this whole thing is remotely supposed to feel right? _

“This place is supposed to be hidden, right?” Charlie asked. “Like… magically hidden. Demons aren’t supposed to be able to find it easily.”

Bobby nodded. 

“Not just that...” Robby added thoughtfully. “The demons know this place is protected. An attack like this is never gonna work. So why do it unless...”

The three of them looked at each-other, scared and horrified, all of them having arrived at the same conclusion simultaneously. 

“What?” Johnny asked, perplexed.

“They’re already inside.” Charlie said, quietly. 

_ Demons? In here? With us? _

“No...” Robby shook his head. “We’d all be dead already if they’d found a way inside.”

“Not if it’s just one.” Bobby told him. “This attack outside? It’s a distraction. They’re waiting for the one in here...”

He trailed off, suddenly pointing the gun at the rest of them. 

“Nobody move!” He ordered. “Who the hell went outside?”

_ He thinks one of us is possessed… _

_ Is that possible? Weren’t those charms supposed to protect us? _

“Bobby - I’m good.” Robby said, pulling his collar down and showing them a pentagram tattoo on his chest. “See?”

“Yeah, me too.” Charlie said, pulling her sleeve up and showing him a similar design.

Bobby grunted, pulling his sleeve up and showing everyone the matching pattern.

“Which leaves...”

The three of them turned their guns on Johnny and Miguel.

“Hey, hey...” Johnny said, raising his hands in surrender. “I don’t have one of those, okay? I don’t know how I’m supposed to prove - ”

He was cut off by a splash of water to the face. He stood there, eyes closed, as the liquid comically rolled off his nose.

_ Sensei’s not possessed. Which means… Could I be…? _

He was splashed by holy water before he could even complete the thought. And it felt… just like water.

“So… we are all clean?” Charlie said, nonplussed. “No demon here after all?”

_ Looks like it,  _ Miguel thought, relieved.  _ It was just a theory after all. Nothing to actually suggest… _

“No...” Robby spoke up, remembering. “Bobby, the body you brought in. Did you check it for possession?”

Bobby stared at him… then his eyes widened. 

“BALLS!”

* * *

“Don’t worry.” Bobby had said. “They’ll be safe with me.”

Despite that reassurance, Miguel kept his guard up as they crept through the corridor. 

The thought of a zombie-demon prowling through their halls was panic-inducing, but then Bobby’s uncharacteristic laughter had set them at ease. 

“The bastard screwed up.” He’d told them. “I carved a devil’s trap on that body before I loaded it in the trunk. If it’s in there, it ain’t going anywhere.”

“You knew this would happen?” Johnny had asked, horrified. 

“No.” Bobby had shrugged. “I am just that kind of paranoid bastard. Figured it’d keep demons out - never thought I was locking one in.”

They still had to confirm it, though. And they had to make sure that that thing stayed trapped. Robby volunteered, ofcourse, and Bobby took Miguel with him as backup. 

“You just got one job kid.” He’d told him. “If something goes wrong, run like hell and get the other two. Got it?”

Made sense. With Bobby’s age and Robby’s injuries, Miguel was probably the fastest one there. But for the very same reason, if something did go wrong, Miguel had a feeling that he wouldn’t make it back in time. 

_ God, please, let nothing go wrong. For once, let things be fine… _

Things did look fine. 

The body was still there in the med-bay, still apparently dead. 

“You think we were wrong?” Robby asked, keeping his gun trained on it.

“Let’s find out.” Bobby replied, opening his flask and dousing the dead man in holy water. 

The liquid sizzled and smoked on the skin like acid and with a deep, painful groan, the body’s eyes flew open. They were jet black.

“Dammit.” The demon hissed. “You know, there is nothing wrong with just asking first.” 

* * *

Five hours. 

It’d been five hours since the siege began… since demons had started circling the bunker and there was no end in sight. They’d moved the demon inside to it’s new quarters… a dungeon in the basement made specifically for this purpose… but after that, they were stumped about what to do. 

“I say kill it.” Charlie advised. “One less demon to deal with in the long run.”

“Sam and Dean would want to question it.” Robby countered. “All these demons, acting together like this? They’re up to something big and we should find out what.”

“Our biggest problem right now is that thing’s friends out there.” Bobby reminded them. “Don’t look like they’re going anywhere.”

“What if we let it go?” Johnny suggested. “You think others will back off? Like a prisoner exchange thing?”

“Demons don’t care about each-other.” Bobby replied, shaking his head. “That thing was in here for something and it failed. They’d probably kill it themselves after this.”

“So what do they want?” Johnny asked. “If it’s something from in here and we just give it to them - ”

“Not a chance.” Bobby growled. “If this is how desperate they are to get it, all the more reason not to let them get to it.”

“Look… I don’t care about whatever this is, alright.” Johnny replied. “I just want to make sure my kids make it out of this alive. If it means giving them what they want - ”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Robby said, angrily. “Whatever they want this desperately, it’s bad. Like thousands of people dead kinda bad. Better to let everyone in here die than give it to them.”

The argument went on and on until they were exhausted and Miguel sat listening without saying a word. 

_ What the hell did I get myself into? Demons circling outside, a possessed zombie inside… talking about what to do with it like they are making dinner plans? How the hell am I supposed to have an opinion about all this? _

_ How does Robby? _

_ This is so above my paygrade… _

“I need to take a leak.” Robby declared, getting up. 

Bobby grunted. “Diaz. Go with him.”

Miguel got up to obey on instinct but Robby scoffed. “I don’t need him to hold it for me.”

“Well, you ain’t going alone.” Bobby replied. 

“I’ll go.” Johnny offered, getting.

“No, you won’t.” Bobby replied. “I don’t trust you not to do something stupid. You are staying right here where I can keep an eye on you. You kids go and be back on the double.”

With a shrug and an apologetic look towards Johnny, Miguel got up and followed Robby out of the room. 

And they were already a level down before Miguel remembered that there was a bathroom on the upper floor as well. 

“Hey, Robby. The bathroom’s that - ” Then his blood froze as he realized where Robby was headed. Towards the dungeon.

“Dude… what are you doing?”

Robby looked back at him and smirked. “Something stupid.”

* * *

“You don’t need to do this.” Miguel had begged. “You don’t need to prove anything. No one’s trying to replace you.”

Robby had stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I heard you, alright?” Miguel had explained. “Talking to Bobby. You are worried that the Winchesters want to replace you with me? They’re not - and I wouldn’t want to even if they did. You don’t need to prove yourself.”

“Jesus, Diaz - you think I’m that stupid?” Robby had shaken his head. “I’m not gonna let my personal feelings mess with my job, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

Miguel had debated running back and getting someone… but he ended up debating it too long. Before he could make a decision, Robby was already at the dungeon door, going inside. 

The demon was still there, chained to a chair in the middle of a giant red devil’s trap and glaring at them with hateful black eyes. 

“Follow my lead.” Robby whispered. “And don’t take your eyes off it.”

“Well, well, well...” The thing smirked. “It’s the Winchesters’ newest pet. Did they teach you how to bark yet, puppy? Woof, woof...”

Robby didn’t reply. He just stared at the guy impassively. 

“Can it do tricks yet? Sit, boy.” The demon laughed, his eyes finding Miguel. “Oh… I see. So you are the big dog now? And they got a new pup to play with? Guess that means you are not their favorite anymore, huh?”

Still nothing, though Miguel could feel his own fists clenching. 

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

“Sorry...” Robby said, smiling calmly. “I was just waiting for you to finish. Are you done?”

“Sure...” The demon kept smirking.

“Good. This should be over quickly.” Robby’s smile grew wider. “Let’s see… _ Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio... _ ”

“What the hell are you doing?” The demon asked, with panic in his voice.

“Can you not interrupt, please?” Robby said, politely. “Sam says I should have this memorized by now. And I don’t get many chances to practice as it is.”

“Why..?” The demon looked even more confused. “What…?”

“It’s an exorcism.” Robby explained, as if to a child. “It sends you back to hell.”

“I know what an exorcism - ” The demon took a frustrated breath. “Why are you doing this?”

“Well, I thought about killing you… but then I figured, why let you off easy?” Robby shrugged. “Thought I’d send you back to Rowena. You know how she deals with traitors, right?”

There was fear on the demon’s face - naked, abject fear.

“You think you can trust that bitch?” He asked. “All she cares about is power. She’ll gut you the moment you are of no use to her.”

“Well, I’m sending her traitors, Sounds pretty useful to me.” Robby shrugged. “Where was I? Right -  _ infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio -  _ ”

“Stop!” The demon winced in pain. “You are making a mistake.”

Robby waited with folded arms for him to go on. 

“There are demons outside, right?” He said. “I can get them to back off.”

“Nice try.” Robby scoffed. “ _ et secta diabolica. Ergo draco maledicte... _ ”

The demon’s eyes looked around, panicking, desperate as the words seemed to cause him pain. Until they fell on Miguel. 

“I can help you.” He said, his eyes boring into Miguel’s. “I can bring your mom back.”

_ Wh-what did he just say? _

Robby stopped his chanting. 

“Your mother - she was killed by a demon, right?” The black-eyed monster panted. “Did they tell you what it means? It means her soul was dragged to hell. She’s being tortured right now. But I can get her back… bring her back to life.”

_ He can bring my mom back? My mom…? _

“Don’t listen to him.” Robby said. “He’s lying. He doesn’t have that kind of power.”

“Try me.” The demon argued. “You must have heard the phrase, right? A deal with the devil… that’s what this is. You make a deal with me and I can bring her back.”

“A deal…?” Miguel’s voice was barely above a whisper. “For my soul…?”

What even was a soul? If he had to give that up to have his mom back…

“Miguel - he’s lying.” Robby said, more loudly. 

“They’re the ones who lied to you.” The demon replied. “Did they tell you about demon deals, huh? Did they tell you about other ways to bring the dead back?”

Miguel stared at Robby, begging with his eyes. 

_ Tell me… convince me that he’s lying. Give me a reason to believe you… _

“The price will be too high.” Robby told him. “Whatever he brings back, it won’t be your mom.”

_ So… there was a chance… It is possible… _

“I’ll pay it.” Miguel said. “Whatever the price… my soul...”

“That’s the usual… but I’ll give you a discount.” The demon said. “All you need to do is cut me loose and help me find the All-Key in here.”

“The… what…?”

“It’s a key that can open doors between dimensions.” The demon replied. “It’s in here, somewhere. You help me find it and I even promise to let the rest of you live.”

Robby was standing in front of him… between Miguel and the captive demon, pointing a gun straight at his face. Reflexively, Miguel pointed his right back. 

“Can’t let you do that, Diaz.” He said, coldly. “That thing is playing you.”

“I don’t care.” Miguel replied. “If it can bring my mom back...”

_ My mom… she was a good person. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. If I can make it right… if I can fix it… _

“Get out of the way, Robby.”

“No.” Robby refused. “You want to get to him, you’ll have to shoot me first.”

_ I don’t need to. He’s one-armed. I can overpower him. _

“Take another step and I’ll shoot you in the leg.” Robby warned. “And the only way you are getting to him is through me. Your call, Diaz...”

_ Shoot him… fucking shoot him you pussy. _

“Robby, get out of the way. Please.”

_ Why are you hesitating? He’s the one who killed your mom. He’s the reason behind all of this. Kill him and bring your mom back. Balance the scales. That’s the right thing… _

“Robby, please… don’t make me do this.”

“No!” Robby repeated.

_ This long nightmare would be over. Robby gone from your life… your mom back with you… things would go back to normal. Like they used to be. Like they should be. You can have the life that you want and he is the only thing standing in your way. _

_ So what’s stopping you? Are you really that much of a pussy? Do you even have one good reason not to do this? _

_...Mom wouldn’t want it that way… _

The moment the realization hit, Miguel’s gun fell from his hands and he fell to his knees, defeated. He barely saw Robby kick it away before he turned back to the demon.

“So… the All-Key?” Robby asked. “That’s what you’re after here?”

His final hope faded, the demon looked defeated as well. 

“Yeah...”

“Let me guess...” Robby said. “You want to open the gate to hell?”

_ The gate to hell? So demons could come pouring into the earth…. Possessing people… killing them… _

“You got it.”

“Who’s leading you?” Robby asked. “Who’s behind this?”

“Nobody.” The demon gave a hollow laugh. “This is a spontaneous expression of popular opinion.”

“Think Rowena can get it out of you?” Robby asked. 

“This isn’t like before, kid.” The demon replied. “There is no head of the snake to cut off here. We all got together because we wanted the same thing...”

“What’s that?”

“To get the hell out of hell...” It chuckled. “You guys up here… you talk about how things are different. But they are no different for us down there. Your new God is the same as the old one. He just locks us away to be tortured and miserable and forgotten… and we just want to get out of that cage. Do you get that? At all?”

“Yeah, I do.” Robby nodded. “But it’s still not gonna happen.”

_ That thing… is not a monster. Not a complete monster, atleast. It just wants to be free… to not hurt anymore… _

“Before we end this.” Robby added. “I need you to tell my friend the truth. About the deal you offered him.”

“You really are an asshole, you know. Exactly like those two.” The demon chuckled. “Fine… sorry kid, there was no real deal here. Demons used to make deals, but that’s not allowed anymore. Against our new “Queen’s” policy.”

_ It was a lie… the whole thing was a lie all along… _

“My mom… is she in hell?”

“Dunno.” It shrugged. “Was she a bad person?”

Miguel shook his head. 

“Well, if she is in heaven, then I wouldn’t be allowed to touch her soul anyway.” The demon shrugged. “Whatever… are we done now?”

“Yeah - you’re done.” Robby replied. 

He pulled out one of those silver looking spikes Miguel had seen around and after thinking about it for a moment, offered it to Miguel, handle first. 

“Wanna do the honors?” He asked. 

“What…?”

“It’s an angel blade.” Robby explained. “It can kill demons. That’s what you wanted to do, right? Kill demons?”

Was it?

Miguel didn’t know what he wanted anymore. It felt like his whole world had been turned on its head in the last five minutes. 

_ I should hate this guy… I should want to kill him… He dangled the dream in front of me and cruelly yanked it away… _

_ So why can’t I hate him anymore? Why can’t I hate anyone? _

_ Why do I just feel so… defeated? Empty? _

“I… can’t.” Miguel said, looking away. “I can’t do it...”

Robby frowned at him, disappointed. 

“Bobby was right about you.” He said. “You don’t have what it takes.”

He turned around and stabbed the monster in the chest. A scream, glowing light from inside of it and the thing was dead. 

* * *

_ What the hell am I doing here? _

The demons cleared out within five minutes of their ally’s death. They’d tracked it there after all and the moment they knew their plan had failed…

“You took hell of a risk, kid.” Bobby said.

Robby shrugged. “I learned from the Winchesters, after all.”

“Hmph… Well, it worked out, so you won’t hear no complaints from me. And you got some good intel to boot.” Bobby told him. “But you pull a stunt like that again and I  _ will  _ tan your ass.”

Robby didn’t tell them about the demon’s offer… or about how Miguel had almost given in to it. How he’d almost killed…

And for that, he was grateful. 

Once it was over, he was left with just one nagging question.

“Sensei...” Miguel asked when the others left to deal with the body. “What the hell are we doing here? We don’t belong here.”

Johnny looked lost in thought. He’d barely spoken a word after and it seemed like he was nodding to himself. 

“You’re right.” He agreed. “We don’t.”

“Then why are we here?”

Johnny looked at him, looking as scared and lost as Miguel felt. 

“I thought we had a plan.”

Right… revenge for Carmen, saving Robby. But Robby could take care of himself. And as for revenge…

“This isn’t what my mom would’ve wanted.” Miguel said. 

They’d told him before. Everyone had told him the same thing, but he hadn’t listened. 

“You’re right.” Johnny nodded. “This life… Carmen wouldn’t have wanted this for you. I never should’ve dragged you into this.”

“You didn’t drag me into this… I wanted it. Or I thought I did.” Miguel sighed. “But I don’t have what it takes to be like him… to be like… Robby.”

Johnny nodded again.

“How did it get to this?” Miguel asked, pleading. “I was just a kid from Reseda looking to learn some karate. Bullies were the biggest problem in my life… not demons.”

“Miguel, I’m sorry - ”

“I don’t need your fucking apology.” Miguel snapped. “I need you to help me make sense of this. I want you to tell me that all this is a bad nightmare. That I’ll just wake up and things will be normal again. That we can go back to a time we were all happy.”

“What time was that?” Johnny asked. “A time when we were all together - you, me and your mom? A time when you were still with Sam?”

“Yeah...”

“So the time when Robby was out there… in the streets… all alone?”

Miguel looked away, unsure of how to answer that. 

That had been the happiest time of his life. His family with him, being with his first love, the admiration of his friends, being celebrated as a hero. But now, he couldn’t help but wonder if his happiness then had been bought at the price of Robby’s misery.

And if that was the case, was his misery now the price for Robby’s happiness? And was Robby even truly happy here?

“I wish I had the answers, Miguel.” Johnny said. “I wish I knew how to make this all better. I don’t.”

“So what do we do now?” Miguel asked. “Stay here? Learn how to hunt?”

“No… not you.” Johnny replied. “I don’t think you have what it takes.”

There it was again… but Johnny had always believed in him. 

“What’s that?” Miguel asked. “I’m not badass enough.”

“I’m not… sure.” Johnny shook his head. “But I’ve been watching these people… and Robby. And I think I kind of get what’s pushing them. They all have good hearts… they all want to help people… but they are all also… damaged.” 

_ Damaged? Like I’m not? _

“No, not like you.” It was as if Johnny read his thoughts. “They have this anger in them… this hatred… and it pushes them. You don’t have that because… that’s not how your mom raised you.”

“So… I’m not messed up enough?”

“Yeah...” Johnny agreed. “And that’s a good thing. Think you have to be pretty messed up to want to live this kind of life, right?”

Miguel could see that. No, he’d seen it all along.

“So where does that leave me?” He asked. 

“You get to move on.” Johnny replied. “You get to quit while you’re ahead.”

Miguel couldn’t help but laugh out at that. 

“Ahead? You think I’m ahead?” There was bitterness in his voice. “Sensei… I didn’t just stick around for revenge. I stuck around because… I was afraid to go back.”

Johnny frowned at him, not understanding. 

“I screwed up my whole life for this.” Miguel explained. “Ever since my mom died… I dropped out of school for this. I blew through my college fund trying to track down Robby. I haven’t spoken to yaya in weeks. My girlfriend dumped me because of my obsession. All of my friends moved on with their lives. Sensei… I have nothing left.”

“You have your life.” Johnny said, quietly. “And you have people who still care about you. That’s more than Robby had and he still managed, somehow.” He nodded, more confident now. “You’re a tough kid, Miguel. You’ll build your life back. You’ve done it before and you can do it again.”

“I didn’t… do it alone.” Miguel said, quietly. “I had you with me.”

Johnny nodded, without replying. Some part of Miguel knew the answer then, but he still had to ask. 

“Let’s go home, Sensei.” He pleaded. “Let’s get out of here and figure out what to do next. Together. You can get back to your dojo and I could help you with that… like an assistant Sensei or something - ”

“I can’t.” Johnny shook his head. “I need to stay here. For Robby.”

_ I knew it… I saw it coming a mile away… _

_ Still hurts, doesn’t it? _

“He doesn’t want you here.” Miguel said. 

“Yeah - but he needs me.” Johnny replied. “And… I need to do this too.”

“So you are choosing him over me?”

To his credit, Johnny didn’t look away. He didn’t give excuses or pretend that it wasn’t what he thought. He looked Miguel right in the eyes and nodded.

“I think it’s about time I did, don’t you?”

There was nothing more to be said. Their decisions were made and their paths diverged here… perhaps forever. 

“Guess I should go pack then.” Miguel said, getting up.

Johnny nodded. 

Then just as Miguel was almost out the door.

“I need you to do something.” Johnny asked quietly. “I know I don’t have the right but… I need your help. For Robby.”

_ You ask me now? After you refused to help me? After you passed me over for him? _

“Ofcourse, Sensei.” Miguel replied. “What do you need?”


	11. Revelations

The news of Miguel’s imminent departure surprised Robby.

Or to be more precise, the news of Miguel’s imminent departure  _ alone  _ surprised Robby. 

Even more surprising was the feeling of disappointment he felt upon hearing it. 

“He’s headed to LA?” Charlie had asked. “I’m heading that way. Guess I can give him a ride.”

“What about the case you were on?” Johnny had enquired. 

“That’s done.” Bobby had explained. “It was that demon all along. It carved those symbols inside that guy because it knew we’d come here to figure it out. Sort of a Trojan horse ploy...”

Robby had left them to their talk, uncertainly heading towards Miguel’s room

_ I should be happy, right? I’ve wanted him gone since the moment he showed up. I’ve been trying to get rid of him. So why…? _

And why was Diaz leaving now anyway? The guy had never struck Robby as a pussy. He was many things, but never the one to run from a fight. One taste of real danger and he had enough? That didn’t make any sense. 

“You are leaving?” Robby asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Miguel nodded without looking up from his packing. 

“I don’t belong here.” He replied.

“I’ve been telling you that from the start.” Robby said. “What changed?”

“I didn’t believe you before.” Miguel smiled sadly. “But last night… it made me realize it’s true.”

That was it? It was that simple?

Did it have something to do with what Bobby had said last night?

“Kid’s too nice.” Bobby had told him. “Don’t think he has the heart for this life.”

_ And I do… because I’m not nice. _

“Good ain’t about being nice, kid.” Bobby had clarified. “This life… it needs you to make tough choices. Make sacrifices. Not everybody can do that… but we can. And we do it so they don’t have to...”

Miguel hadn’t been able to make that choice… he’d believed the demon when it’d offered him his mom back, but he still hadn’t been able to shoot Robby who’d stood in his way. And Robby knew that if the roles had been reversed, he would’ve shot Miguel without hesitation. It’d have been the wrong choice, but he’d have made it.

“What about getting revenge for your mom?” Robby asked. “Wasn’t that what you were after? Never thought I’d see you cut and run.”

_ Why did I just say that? Why am I trying to make him stay? _

“If that demon comes back, call me.” Miguel shrugged. “And I’ll be back in a jiffy. Until then… I guess my mom would just want me to live my life.”

“And where was that Zen attitude when you were coming after me?” Robby asked, irate. 

Miguel sighed, stopping what he was doing. 

“I made a mistake.” He said. “It was easier to hate you because I knew you. And it was easier to focus on that hate… to ignore everything else. But that demon… I don’t know it’s name or what it feels or thinks… So it feels like...” Miguel sighed. “It feels like my mom was just struck by lightning. Like she was killed by a force of nature… and you can’t hate nature, can you?”

Robby mused on his words… then shook his head. 

“That’s bullshit.”

“Maybe...” Miguel agreed. “The truth is, I’m just tired of hating. Or being angry. I just don’t have it in me anymore. And I know that if I stick with this, I’ll end up becoming something my mom never wanted for me. Something I never wanted to become…. So I’m getting out while I can.”

“So you don’t want to become like me?” Robby asked, with unexpected bitterness. “That’s probably smart.”

“No… not like you.” Miguel replied. “You are not doing this for revenge are you? You are doing this because you care about helping people. You’re a hero.”

“And you’re not?” Robby scoffed. “Hero of the Valley? Savior of karate? Who was that guy?”

“Not me...” Miguel shook his head again. “I was never trying to be a hero… I was just a normal kid who wanted to live a normal life. With my friends… my family… a job that makes me a fuckton of money...” He laughed. “Did you want to be a hero?”

Robby shook his head. “I just wanted to do something that mattered. Still do.”

“Yeah… I guess that’s the difference between us.” Miguel nodded. “I… never felt like I needed to do anything to matter. I always knew that there were gonna be people who’d care about me no matter what. And I guess you didn’t...” He looked at Robby. “Is that a good thing or bad?”

“Maybe neither.” Robby shrugged. “Maybe it just is...”

Miguel nodded and went back to packing while Robby continued to watch him. 

“So… what’s next for you?” He asked. 

“Figure my life out.” Miguel replied, half-smiling. “See if Sam’s still single… though after how I treated her, dunno why she’d even want me back.”

_ Should I feel some way about that? Happy that they broke up? Jealous that they might get back together? I don’t feel… anything, _

“I really need to talk to my yaya too...” Miguel continued. “I’ve been a pretty crappy grandson through this all. She needed me and I was just...” He sighed. “And after that… guess I’ll try opening a dojo or something. That title of two time winner has to be good for something.” He looked up at Robby uncertainly. “Unless you want me to...”

_ What? Tell the truth? Get them to reverse that win and give me the trophy? _

“I really don’t care.” Robby replied. 

“Yeah, figured you wouldn’t.” Miguel smiled. “Well, that’s all I got so far. I’ll see how that goes until...”

_ Until my dad comes back… _ the words hung in the air unsaid.

“I asked him to come back with me.” Miguel told him quietly. “I told him that I needed him but… guess he chose you this time.”

_ Is that what he did? Now that it doesn’t mean anything anymore? _

“He chose himself.” Robby replied, coldly. “I don’t need him here and I don’t want him here. He’s just sticking around because he thinks he can fix something - but there is nothing here to be fixed.”

Miguel wisely chose not to contradict him on that. 

“I don’t think we’re gonna see eye to eye on that.” He said instead. “I just wanted you to know that I asked Sensei to come back with me and - for whatever reason - he chose to stay here with you instead.”

_ Doesn’t change anything… I won’t let it change anything… _

Miguel was done packing. He was zipping up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. 

“Well… atleast we don’t have to be enemies anymore, right?” He asked, smiling at Robby.

“No, I guess not.” Robby agreed. 

“Maybe… even friends?” He looked at him hopefully. 

_ God… does he never give up? That unrelenting optimism is the reason everyone loves him, right? _

_ And why I can’t stand him… _

“Maybe someday.” Robby replied with the best he could do.

Which was good enough for Miguel, apparently. 

“Hey - uh...” Robby spoke up. “If you see anything weird out there, don’t… try to be a hero, okay? Just call me… us… let the professionals handle it.”

Miguel nodded. “And if the demon that killed my mom ever shows up again, you call me.” He replied. “I won’t wuss out next time.”

Robby nodded and was a little taken aback as Miguel extended his hand towards him. After a moment, he reached out and shook it. 

“See you around, Diaz.”

“Same, Keene.”

* * *

Robby couldn’t wait until he was rid of the cast… and of Johnny. 

Once Miguel left his dad became practically unbearable. Atleast with him there Robby had a buffer. Miguel was always seeking Johnny’s attention with something new he’d just found - like he was the first one to discover it - and that allowed Robby to have a break from his father’s constant hovering. 

But now with Miguel gone…

Johnny didn’t get him. That was the problem. He still acted like Robby was some dumb teenager in way over his head… and that Johnny could teach him what he needed to learn.

“C’mon - this is how you fight monsters?” Johnny asked, restraining him from behind. 

Robby grunted, trying to break free of his grip. Training one-armed made him humiliatingly weak. The ease with which Johnny managed to control and subdue him was downright embarrassing. 

But he knew more tricks now. 

He lifted his foot to slam his heel on Johnny’s instep and predictably, Johnny moved it out of the way, marginally shifting off-balance. Which was what Robby was waiting for. He swung his foot back instead, catching his knee and surprising him enough to loosen the hold. Using the space for leverage, he threw himself back, taking them both down to the ground.

“STOP!” Johnny yelled. 

Robby rolled away, getting back to his feet and getting into a fighting stance again. 

“Stop!” Johnny said again. “What the hell was that? You could’ve broken your arm with that fall.”

“Got free, didn’t I?” Robby said, bouncing on feet. “Stop being a pussy and fight me for real.”

“No. This is enough.” Johnny said, putting his arms down. “This is supposed to be training, Robby, not a real fight.”

“This is training for a real fight.” Robby countered. “This is how it works, Dad. Monsters are gonna be stronger than me. They’re gonna hit me hard. I need to be able to get up no matter how many times I get hit.”

Johnny backed off, shaking his head. “I’m not gonna hurt you...”

What part of training didn’t he understand? Was he like that with his students too? This soft?

He didn’t get what hunting was all about. He had this ridiculous idea that it was supposed to be like in action movies all the time - riding into the fray, guns-blazing…

“Never thought my son would end up being a nerd.” Johnny said, with a hint of pride in his voice as Robby pored over the books. 

“It’s research.” Robby replied, rolling his eyes. “The actual action in a real hunt lasts like 5 minutes. Before that, it’s days and days of going through old newspapers, talking to people, looking up lore...”

“I wish you’d let me help you with that.” Johnny said as he watched him struggle to disassemble a gun. “I may not like to shoot, but I can help clean it atleast.”

“This isn’t just about cleaning.” Robby replied. “It’s part of my routine. You need a routine to stay sane in this life.”

But as bad as the days were, some nights were worse. 

Sure Sam had trained him to be a light sleeper… to wake up the moment he heard even the soft footfalls outside his door. But Robby did slip up every now and then. Sometimes, his body would just drag him into deep slumber where his mind could torture him uninterrupted. 

It was a hand to the chest that woke him that night. Johnny was shaking him awake with a concerned look on his face. And Robby was covered in cold sweat. Panting like he’d just run a marathon. And his still-sleepy eyes were wild and scared, looking for an escape route. 

“You were having a nightmare.” Johnny informed him.

Robby wiped his face with his hands and kept them there. 

“Gee… what gave it away?” He asked sarcastically. “I’m awake now. You can go.”

Johnny sat down on the edge of the bed instead, almost beside him. 

“Thought kids were supposed to outgrow nightmares about monsters at 10.” Johnny tried to be light-hearted, which fell flat. “So… was it about monsters?”

“Just one.” Robby replied tonelessly. “Me.”

Johnny understood. Or thought he did. 

“It wasn’t you, Robby.”

“It is in my dreams.” Robby replied. “I can feel their warm blood on my hands. I can hear their screams. I… see their faces… crying, begging and it sends this rush of pleasure through me...”

“It wasn’t you. It wasn’t your fault.” Johnny repeated. “If they knew they’d understand. I know Carmen would.”

Robby glanced at him briefly. 

“Carmen wasn’t the only one.” He said, looking away. “I - it - killed a lot of people. I don’t even know all of their names, but I remember their faces.” He sighed. “And it’s not just that time. It’s all those I hurt before. And all those I failed to save since.”

“You’ve made mistakes, sure, but you are trying to do the right thing now.” Johnny argued. “You are trying to make up for them.”

Robby gave him a hollow laugh. “There is no making up for it. Those people aren’t gonna come back to life just because I kill a few monsters.”

He could feel a hesitant warm hand on him… gently touching his back, right at his shoulder. And he wanted so badly to lean into that touch. To close his eyes and lean back. To let Johnny wrap his arms around him. To lose himself in a warm embrace where he could feel safe and protected even if it was just an illusion. 

_ Don’t fall for it. Don’t make the same mistakes again… _

“Don’t touch me.” Robby said and the hand withdrew. “And I really don’t wanna talk about this. So just go away.” 

Johnny didn’t move.

“I don’t...” He hesitated. “I don’t want to leave you alone like this.”

“You’ve left me alone worse.” Robby replied. “You wanna have a chick-flick moment? Go find Miguel. I’m sure he’d love to talk your ear off about his  _ feelings.  _ I just wanna be left alone.”

Johnny got up, defeated. “I was just trying to help. To… make things better for you.”

Robby scoffed. “When have you ever made things better for me?”

That was the thing, wasn’t it? After everything they’d done to each-other, they should both just pick a hemisphere and stick to it. But Johnny still wasn’t letting it go and for the life of him, Robby couldn’t figure out his motivation. 

He couldn’t possibly be trying to fix their relationship. They hadn’t had much of one to begin with and that ship had sailed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean ages ago. Even Johnny wouldn’t be stupid enough to think that there was anything to salvage there. 

So… revenge? He’d been looking for Robby to bring him to justice for the death of his girlfriend and his unborn child. And when he’d found out who - or what - was really responsible…

But he never showed any interest in hunting either. He never asked about tracking down demons or exorcisms or how to kill them. All his questions were about the risks involved, about what Robby was doing to protect himself… and why he had to do it in the first place.

“I’m just trying to help.”

That’s what Johnny kept saying… except he wasn’t. Not really. 

Sure, he helped with the day to day stuff… cooking, cleaning, even training. But when it came to things hunting related, he constantly kept undermining and criticizing. It was pretty obvious he was trying to make Robby quit and Robby had made it equally clear that he wasn’t going to… so what was the point?

Well, whatever it was, Robby could atleast take comfort in the fact that the farce would be over soon. Johnny had stuck around longer this time than ever before, but this was always going to be temporary. He’d hoped that Johnny would leave once Sam and Dean got back, but given the nature of their work…

It didn’t matter though. He was going to get the cast off in a day or two and then Johnny would have no reason to stick around.

* * *

“What did you just say?” Robby asked, unable to believe his ears.

“Uh… that salt-and-burns sounds pretty easy.” Johnny replied, uncertainly looking around. “They are, right?”

Dean shrugged and Sam nodded without looking up from his laptop.

“No… after that.” Robby clarified. 

“That… the two of us can probably take care of that.” 

That’s what Robby had heard as well. 

“There is no two of us.” Robby said, angrily. “You are only here until my arm gets better.”

“Well, it’s not better yet.” Johnny argued. “Even after you get that cast off, you’ll need to get your strength back. I could help you with that.”

“No...” Robby refused flatly. What was going on here? Why weren’t Sam and Dean saying anything? “Are you two even listening to this?”

Dean cleared his throat. “It’s not actually a bad idea.” He said. “We’re not gonna take you on any bigger hunts until you are back to a 100%. And… even with the small stuff, it’s good to have someone watching your back.”

“Not  _ him. _ ” Robby said, indignantly. “He doesn’t know anything about hunting.”

“You didn’t either.” Johnny said. “But you learned. And so can I.”

“No!” Robby didn’t know how else to put it more clearly. 

“Robby… with the demon rebellion looming...” Sam sighed. “We could use more people out there. That’s it.”

Was it? Really? So this was just about recruiting more hunters for the upcoming war?

“Fine!” Robby conceded angrily. “Doesn’t mean he has to tag along with me. I’ll team up with Aidan and he can go work with Garth or something.”

That would teach him. A hyper-cheerful hug-obsessed werewolf like Garth was sure to drive Johnny nuts. 

“Sorry kid, can’t get rid of me that easy.” Johnny shook his head. “Not this time.”

“What are you gonna do? Stalk me across the country?” Robby scoffed. “Like you can even find me if I don’t want you...”

He found himself trailing off as something disturbing occurred to him. 

Johnny had found him. Twice. And he’d explained the second time… the cell-phone Robby had missed… but the first…

Was that really a coincidence?

“How did you find me?” Robby asked, frowning. “In Stillwater, I mean. What were you doing there in the first place?”

Johnny shrugged, confused. “The LAPD got a tip that you might be in the area. Someone from the sheriff’s department.”

“Whoa… look at the time.” Dean spoke up, getting up. “I really should get started on dinner.”

“Stop!” Robby ordered. “Sit!”

His mind was putting things together that he didn’t want to accept. 

Hunters took precautions against being tracked. Not just with hex-bags but other stuff as well and the Winchesters had taught him all about it. He knew how to fly under the radar, to avoid cameras, to maintain good relationships with local law-enforcement. And more than, Charlie had all sorts of alerts setup to warn them about any tips about them floating around. He should’ve seen Johnny coming a mile away.

He’d figured he’d screwed up somehow… but Sam and Dean would’ve reamed him out for any rookie mistake. Which meant…

“You...” Robby said, horrified. “You told him where I was.”

“No...” Sam said, looking abashed. “Donna did.”

“What?” Johnny looked genuinely surprised as well. Atleast he wasn’t in on it. “But… you didn’t want me around.”

“We wanted to see if you’d come to find your son.” Dean shrugged. “Didn’t expect you to let the Diaz kid tag along.”

His head was swimming. With anger. With indignation. 

“Why…?” Was the only thing Robby could ask. 

“Thought you needed to figure some things out with your dad.” Dean replied. 

But… why? What was the point of all this? What were they trying to achieve?

“Is this some kind of fucked up test?” Robby asked. “You wanted to see if I’ve really let go of my past - is that it? Or...” The alternative was worse. “Do you want to get rid of me? You won’t kick me out but if my dad drags me away - ?”

“No. Ofcourse not.” Sam said. “Robby, listen - ”

“No! I’m not gonna listen!” Robby angrily got up. 

Lies. Excuses. Rationalizations. That’s all he was going to get. They’d twist things. Make it sound like this was a good thing. But Robby knew better now. He knew when he was being manipulated. 

“Screw you!” He hissed. “Screw all of you!”

He stormed out of the room without looking back. 

* * *

The so-called noise-cancelling headphones were completely worthless. Despite turning the volume all the way up, Robby could still hear the banging on the door. 

“Dude, stop tugging one out and open up.” Dean yelled from outside. 

Robby resolutely refused. 

“Don’t make me break this door down.” He said ten minutes later.

Robby sighed and finally got up. It wasn’t like Dean was actually going to do it, but it was equally clear that he wasn’t going to leave him alone either. 

“You want something?” Robby asked sullenly when he opened up the door.

“Depends.” Dean replied. “You done with your little temper tantrum?”

Tantrum? Like he didn’t have a right to be pissed off?

“Don’t treat me like a goddamn kid.” Robby scowled. 

“Don’t act like one.” Dean replied, pushing his way past him inside. “Do you want to talk about this or not?”

“Talk about what? You guys lying to me or manipulating me?” Robby asked. 

Dean sighed. “Alright… you’re pissed. And that’s fine. But I didn’t even know if he was gonna show up, okay? And nothing after that was planned.”

“What was the plan? To mess with me?”

Dean shook his head. “I thought seeing your dad might help you figure out some of your issues.”

“What issues?” Robby was indignant. “I didn’t have any issues. I was happy, okay? For the first time in my life, I felt good.”

Dean gave him a poignant look.  


“You can’t play that game with me, Robby.” He said, with a sad smile. “I invented that goddamn game. Then wrote the fucking playbook on it. You were not okay - not by a long shot.” Dean sighed. “Your very first hunt, you took on two werewolves alone. You take dangerous risks, you are obsessed with hunting - ”

“So?” How was any of that a bad thing? “I’m just trying to be a good hunter. How does that make me messed up?”

Dean shook his head again. “That’s what you don’t get. Good hunters  _ are  _ messed up people. That’s what makes them good. I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but keep going down this road and you’ll end up alone, drunk, paranoid and miserable. That’s if you don’t end up dead first.”

Robby shrugged. “It’d be worth it.”

“No, it won’t.” Dean replied. “Robby - I want things to be better for you. I want you to be better - not just with hunting, but I want you to have a better life.”

_ Don’t trust a word he says. That’s what they always do - Mr. LaRusso… Kreese… they always have the same excuse for manipulating you. That it was for your own good. _

_ But Dean wasn’t supposed to be like them… _

“Maybe I’m too damaged to fix. Ever think about that?” Robby asked. 

“Yeah… and you’re not.” Dean replied. “I’ve been where you are now. You are scared of losing people. Of being alone. You are scared that they’ll leave you if you screw up. That’s what makes you so self-destructive. You’d rather end up dead than alone. Trust me - I know what that’s like. But I also know that can change. If you can learn to trust people - ”

“I trust people.” Robby argued. 

“Not just when you are hunting.” Dean said. “You need to be able to trust that they’ll be there for you. You don’t want to be a burden to them - but you need to know that even if you are, they’ll happily take care of you. That they want to take care of you. Because that’s what family does.”

_ “You are a part of this family too…” _

_ “You wanna end up like him…” _

“People say that but that doesn’t mean anything.” Robby said, bitterly. “My dad was supposed be my family and - ”

He’d said too much. Revealed too much.

But Dean already knew. 

“And that’s why you need to hash it out with him.” He told Robby. “He’s where it all started, right?”

_ Where have I heard that before? _

“So what? I forgive him and my heart grows three sizes?” Robby scoffed. “The sun comes out and the birds start singing?”

That made Dean chuckle. 

“I never said you had to forgive him… just figure things out.” He replied. “It’s not gonna fix everything, but it will be a start.”

“He doesn’t get me. He never did.” Robby shook his head stubbornly. “Even now he wants me to quit hunting.”

“He wants you to have a normal life… a safe life.” Dean told him. 

“Well, I don’t want that.” Robby replied. “This is the life I want.”

“Yeah… that’s another thing...” Dean nodded. “You feel like that now, but some day, you might feel differently. Don’t - ” He held up his hand to cut Robby off. “I know what I’m talking about, alright? Sooner or later, every hunter feels that way. This job gets to everyone. Even if it’s just taking a break...” He shook his head. “Me and Sam? We never had that option. We were in it too deep before we even knew it.”

He looked at Robby and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“But we want you to have that, okay? If one day, you decide to quit hunting, you should have somewhere to go. Someone to go to.”

Robby pursed his lips. “And it has to be him?”

“No...” Dean shook his head. “But I figured that if you can learn to trust him after everything...”

Robby shifted uncomfortably. He felt like he was being pushed towards something and he really didn’t want to go there. 

“Look… whether that guy stays or goes, that’s gonna be your call, alright?” Dean said. “Whatever you decide, we’re gonna have your back. Promise. Just… don’t push him away because you want to prove some kind of point. Hear him out. Think about it… and then decide. Alright?”

Robby nodded tersely. He was still pissed and he was sure Dean was making half of this crap up, but he’d never actually asked anything like this of him before. So if that’s what it took to get everyone off his back…

* * *

“Robby...” Johnny began when he saw him the next time. “I swear I didn’t know what those two - ”

“Shut up!” Robby snapped. 

They were alone for now. Sam and Dean were going to leave them alone for the night… or for as long as it took. They could finally see this through without any interruptions. 

Robby pulled out a bottle of Johnnie Walker from Dean’s good stash - if he was being forced to do this, Dean might as well pay for it - and set it on the table with two glasses. 

“So here’s how it’s gonna go.” Robby said, pouring Johnny and himself a couple of large ones. “We’re gonna sit here, we’re gonna drink and we’re gonna talk. No walking out. No running away. We’re gonna do this until the bottle is finished. Alright?”

Johnny nodded, hesitantly taking the glass. 

“By the time we finish this, one of two things is gonna happen.” Robby told him. “Either you are gonna convince me to let you stick around. Or, you’re gonna go and I’m never gonna see you again. Deal?”

“What? No!” Johnny was taken aback. “Robby, I can’t agree to - ”

“Or we can just end it right now?” Robby warned. 

Johnny struggled with the decision for a moment… and then nodded. 

“Good!” Robby said, raising his glass. “Cheers!”


	12. Resolution

Robby had laid down his conditions, but neither of them had any idea where to begin. How exactly do you resolve nineteen years’ worth of disappointments over one conversation? His son had practically set him up for failure.

Johnny still had to try and he was going to… if only he could figure out where to start.

They finished their first glass in complete silence and Robby poured them the next one without asking. 

_ Say something.  _ Johnny told himself, taking a sip.  _ If you just sit here like this, the booze would be gone in no time at all. _

“Robby, I am - ” Johnny started the only place he could. 

“Don’t.” Robby cut him off.

Johnny sighed. “I thought we were gonna talk.”

“I’m sorry. I screwed up. I’m trying to change. I’ll do better from now on.” Robby listed. “That’s what you were gonna say right? I’ve heard that all a thousand times before. So let’s skip that part and get to where you tell me why I should believe you.”

Johnny wet his lips before drinking some more. 

“Well… I have been here over a month.” He said, hesitating. “I didn’t go back… even when Miguel asked me to.”

“Well… give the man a cookie.” Robby said, bitterly. 

Right. Ofcourse. The past month wasn’t going to change anything. Robby didn’t actually need him right now and it wasn’t like Johnny was making some great personal sacrifice to be there. In the end, he wasn’t there when it’d mattered the most and that’s what counted. 

“You’re right. This doesn’t change anything because I wasn’t there when you needed me.” Johnny agreed, sick to his heart. “So maybe… I should start with being honest with you about why not.”

That got his attention. Robby didn’t turn to look at him or encourage him to continue in anyway, but he sat up a little straighter and that was enough for Johnny. 

“I… never cared about you.” It killed him to admit it, even to himself, much less out loud. “Not like I should have. Not like you deserved. I told you - and myself - that I cared because I was your dad, but that was a lie.”

Robby finally looked at him, wary and skeptical. 

“So you are finally admitting it?” He asked. 

Johnny nodded. “I had a pretty shitty dad. More than one, really. And I didn’t want to be anything like them.”  _ Damn, that sounds like the beginning of an excuse.  _ “I… cared about my relationship with you. I cared about being a good dad… someday. To someone. But that’s not the same as caring about you.”

Johnny swallowed and looked at him.  _ Tell him what he needs to hear… _

“It wasn’t your fault.” Johnny said. “You didn’t do anything wrong and there was nothing you could’ve done right to change that. You just drew the short straw with me as your dad.”

Robby nodded impassively, his eyes watching Johnny like a hawk.

“So how did Miguel get so lucky?”

Johnny sighed. “I don’t know.” He took another gulp. “I know I didn’t care much about him at first either. And I didn’t even care about being a good Sensei all that much. It just, sort of happened.”

“Well, atleast you are being honest for once.” Robby said coldly, finishing off his drink. 

Then he poured himself another one. 

“So… what changed?” He asked. “What’s different this time?”

“I am.” Johnny replied, finishing his second drink and taking a third one. “You are not the only one who changed these past years.”

Robby leaned back in his seat. “Go on.”

“After… Carmen and the baby...” Johnny didn’t know how else to put it. “I hated you. I was angry and I wanted revenge. The cops were looking for you, but that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to be the one to find you. And I… wanted to hurt you like you’d hurt me.”

Robby didn’t give any response. 

“I started with Kreese. Went to see him in prison. Figured he might know something about where you might be hiding out.” Johnny continued. “And Kreese… let’s just say there are still some things in the world that can still rattle that old bastard. Don’t think I ever saw him look so freaked out.”

“Really?” Robby frowned. 

Johnny nodded. “I was ready to hurt him if he held out on me, but the asshole spilled everything. Even things I didn’t ask about. Things about your time with him.”

Robby shifted uncomfortably, drinking some more. This was clearly not a topic he wanted to get into. 

“He told me about how he trained you.” Johnny continued. “What he did to you when you disobeyed him. When you expressed any doubts. When you… failed at something.” Johnny swallowed another gulp. “I didn’t believe him at first. I quit Cobra Kai after he tried to choke me that one time. I couldn’t understand why you’d stick with him after everything he did to you… everything he put you through...”

“Where else was I supposed to go?” Robby said, tonelessly. 

Johnny nodded. As cruel as Kreese was, that was still preferable to being alone. 

“If… I’d shown you that you could come to me… that you could trust me... that I’d accept you and welcome you and be there for you no matter what, you’d have come back to me, right?” Johnny said. “That’s when I first thought about it. But I pushed that thought away and kept looking.”

Robby waited. 

“I looked for you in the streets. Talked to people, found out the places you’d been to, tried to figure out where you might go.” Johnny continued. “And the more I saw… the way you were living… what you were going through.. I couldn’t unsee it after.”

“I kept asking myself why you wouldn’t just come back.” Johnny went on. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I stayed awake every night thinking about it - about what it was that was so horrible about living with me that you’d rather live like that.”

“It wasn’t about that.” Robby said, tersely. 

“Yeah… I figured that out later.” Johnny agreed. “The one thing I kept realizing over and over again was how much pain you were in… and how little I had cared about that. I’d never thought about you like that before… never tried to understand what you were going through. It was always easy for me to focus on my failures and focus on what was good in my life… but once I started thinking about you… about what you had been through...”

Johnny sighed. “Anyway… that’s what’s different this time.” He took another drink. “That was my real mistake. Instead of being caught up in my own bullshit, I should’ve known that you were hurting and I should’ve done everything in my power to make it better for you. Whether you wanted me to or not.”

“That’s what you think you’re doing now?” Robby squinted at him.

“I’m trying to.” Johnny replied. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand it before, but that’s what being a dad means.”

“Well… I’m sorry you didn’t understand it before too.” Robby told him. “Because it’s too late for you to be a dad to me now. It doesn’t matter if you’ve changed, because I don’t need you anymore. This relationship - it doesn’t have a future.”

Those words, that rejection, it hurt. Yes, he’d known it all along, but hearing it out loud like this still hurt like hell. 

“I know...” Johnny said, quietly. “I wish there was something… anything… I could do to change that, but...”

“Then what are you trying to do here?” Robby asked. 

“I’m trying to keep you safe.” Johnny replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Robby, I told you, this isn’t like before. This isn’t about me. Or even us. This is about you… you’ve already been through a lot. Way more than you deserved. And you deserve better. I want you to be happy. I want you to be safe. I want you to lead a normal, comfortable life with friends and family and kids… it doesn’t matter if it’s with me or a thousand miles away...”

“I’ve friends here.” Robby told him. “And I’m happy.”

“But you’re not safe...” Johnny argued. “You’re putting your life at risk every day and for so little. You could have so much more...”

The stubborn set of his son’s jaw told Johnny that it was a lost argument. 

“You know the risks already, don’t you?” Johnny said, despairing. “You could end up dead in any one of these hunts. Wouldn’t even have to be a hard one. All it’d take is one mistake...”

“Yeah.” Robby nodded. 

“And that’s not all, is it?” Johnny continued. “You could lose people - friends, ones you are trying to save. And that’s gonna hurt too.”

“I know.”

“And you still want to live this life? Despite that?” Johnny asked. “Why?”

“Because it matters.” Robby replied. 

Johnny sighed. “There is nothing I can do to change your mind here, is there?”

“No.”

He took a deep breath. 

“Then atleast let me protect you however I can.” He asked. “Let me hunt with you. Watch your back. I’ll learn what I have to… follow your lead… I know it won’t keep you completely safe, but atleast it’ll keep you safer.”

Robby stayed quiet for so long that for a moment Johnny wondered if he was too drunk to understand. But then he realized… he was actually thinking about it. He was considering it. 

“You can set your conditions, okay?” Johnny sweetened the offer. “Rules that I gotta follow... ways you want me to change...”

Robby kept thinking.

“No...” He said finally, shaking his head. “I don’t want you out there with me.”

Johnny’s heart sank. 

“Why not?”

“Because… I don’t like what you do to me.” Robby replied. “I don’t like who I become when you are around.”

He finished his drink and poured himself another one. 

“Dad… you have this way of making me insecure and paranoid.” He continued, drinking some more. “When you are around me, I’m always waiting for things to go wrong. I’m always looking for the worst in everyone. I keep feeling like I have to prove something… and that if I don’t...” He sighed. “I don’t want to be like that.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that.” Johnny pleaded. “I know you don’t believe me right now - ”

“That’s the thing, dad, I do believe you.” Robby replied. “For once, I really do believe that all you want to do here is protect me.”

“Then...”

“It still doesn’t change anything.” Robby explained. “I still keep thinking how long is this gonna last? How long before you figure you’ve done enough and start wishing you were back in LA with your dojo and your students?”

“I won’t...” Johnny choked. “Not this time...”

“I wish I could believe  _ that _ .”

“Don’t do this to me, please.” Johnny begged. “This is gonna drive me insane, you know that, right? Not knowing where you are? Whether you are hurt? If you’re even alive…? How do you expect me to live with that?”

Robby pursed his lips and shrugged. “Guess I can drop you a text every now and then.”

Not good enough. Not even close to good enough. 

_ This is my punishment, right? I wasn’t there for him when he needed me… and now that I need to be there for him, he won’t let me… _

“I think we’ve resolved everything we needed to, right?” Robby said.

Johnny nodded numbly. He was out of arguments now. 

“Good. Guess you can stay until I get the cast off. But then, we gotta go our separate ways.” He finished the rest of his drink in one go and got up, swaying on his feet a little. “I’ll leave you the rest of the bottle. Feel like you’re gonna need it tonight.”

_ Tonight… and maybe every other night.  _

“I’m not giving up.” Johnny said, tonelessly, before Robby walked out. “You don’t want me around and I respect that, but I’m still going to do what I can for you.”

Robby looked at him almost curiously. “And what’s that?”

“I talked to Sam before.” Johnny explained. “He told me that you are probably not gonna be ready to trust me right away - but that some day you might be. And I have to be ready when that day comes. And I will be. And until then...”

“Until then…?” Robby prompted. 

“I asked Miguel to find a way to clear your name.” Johnny replied. 

“You did what?” Robby frowned, uncertainly. 

“Figured you might want to come back some day. Even if it’s just for a visit.” Johnny gave him a lop-sided smile. “Can’t have people freaking out when they see you, can we? And can’t have you ending up in prison… ”

“There is nothing you can do about that.” Robby told him. 

“Yeah… we’ll see about that.” Johnny told him. “Miguel must have already told the LaRussos the truth. And some of his friends. Together we are just gonna figure out some way to clear your name.”

“How?” Robby scoffed. 

“No idea.” Johnny shrugged. “But you don’t need to worry about that. You keep doing what you do… keep saving lives… and we’ll figure it out.”

A smile. He finally got a smile that wasn’t sarcastic or scornful or scared or painful to look at. A genuine smile from the heart. 

_ I could watch him do that forever…. _

“Sure thing, dad.” Robby said. “Give it your best shot.”

* * *

Robby huffed as he heaved the heavy duffel bag over his shoulder and trudged up the incline. His dad was right - his arm had been out of commission for too long and now it was weak. He’d have to work it out extra hard if he didn’t want to end up looking like some lop-sided freak. 

Johnny had finally said goodbye about an hour ago and much to his surprise, Robby didn’t feel as relieved as he’d expected. Ofcourse, he hadn’t left without one last stab at sticking around. 

“I could just stay in the bunker.” He’d suggested. “Gotta admit, you have a pretty sweet setup here. It’s like a batcave or something.”

“And what? Be a freeloader?” Robby had scoffed. 

Johnny had shrugged. “Or teach hunters some karate...”

Robby had shaken his head, smiling. And then another thought had occurred to him. 

“Could you tell Kreese to get in touch when he gets out of prison?”

“Kreese?” That had taken Johnny aback. “Why would you want to talk to him again?”

“Just think this life might work out for him.” Robby had shrugged. “He’s always looking for the next war… and we could use more soldiers. This might be the one place where his no-mercy lessons might actually work out.”

Johnny had shaken his head. “Robby, you can’t trust the guy.”

“I know...” Robby had replied. “I’m not gonna. Just figured I’d get him started. Give him a second chance...”

Johnny clearly hated the idea, but he agreed to it all the same. 

“You’ll keep your word, right?” He’d asked. “You’ll call me every week?”

That wasn’t actually what Robby had promised, but he’d nodded anyway. 

“This is gonna drive me crazy… not knowing where you are… what you’re doing...”

“It’s safer that way.” Robby had repeated. 

“You sure I’m not letting you down again?” 

Robby had nodded firmly at that. “I’m sure. I’m better off without you.” Hearing that had hurt Johnny. That had been obvious from the pained expression on his face - so Robby had decided to throw him a bone. “For now.”

“You’re saying… it’ll be different later?” He’d asked, hopeful all of a sudden. 

“I’m saying… maybe someday. That’s all.” Robby had replied. 

“Someday, huh? Someday… yeah, I can live with that...”

The Winchesters were already at the Impala when Robby got to them and he saw they weren’t alone. They were talking to a stranger… a dark-haired man in a tan trench-coat…

He could feel the chills running up and down his spine as he realized who that was…

“Oh my God!” Robby exclaimed, drawing their attention. 

The man gave him a hint of a smile. “No… just his messenger.”

“You’re… you’re...” His throat was suddenly dry and he had to swallow. “You’re Castiel.”

The angel’s expression did not change. “Yes, I know who I am.”

Castiel… the Winchesters’ angel friend who’d died and then been brought back by the new God when he came to terms with the Empty. Robby hadn’t fully understood what all that meant, but Dean had mentioned the possibility of the guy dropping in every now and then. 

“Are you…?” What was he supposed to say to an angel of the Lord? “Would you… like a beer?”

That brought a smile to his face. “I don’t think you can afford to get me drunk, Robby.”

_ He knows my name… an actual angel knows my name… _

_ I wanna… touch him. Make sure he’s real. Can I… do that? Is that gonna be rude? Is that allowed? _

“Alright… pull it together.” Dean said, kind of exasperated. “Close your mouth before you swallow a bug.”

He’d been staring… gawking, actually. And he flushed with embarrassment when he realized how star-struck he’d been acting. 

“So Cas, how are things up there?” Sam asked, still smiling at Robby’s reaction.

“Good. But tough.” Castiel replied. “Turns out the new God is quite the hard taskmaster. He has all these ideas on how to make things better in heaven and he has put me to work doing it.”

“And Jack?” Dean asked. 

“Working hard.” Cas told them. “Chuck left a real mess behind. A trail of destruction all over the place. Restoring order to everything… Well, let’s just say Jack has his work cut out for him.”

“How long that’s gonna take?” Dean asked. “Because we could use you guys down here.”

“That’s… uncertain.” Cas said, regretfully. “Might take a few years. Might take a few centuries… it did take Chuck billions of years to set things up just right the first time around. But I hope it doesn’t take that long to just fix things...”

Dean nodded, disappointed. 

“But as for things down here, Jack isn’t worried.” Cas said, smiling. “He knows you can handle it. He believes in you.” He glanced at Robby. “All of you.”

_ God believes in me? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? _

“And you can expect help every now and then.” Cas went on, taking a deep breath. “That’s why I’m here. I have a message from Jack regarding this latest crisis.” He looked at Robby. “I know the demon told you that they don’t have a leader this time, but that’s not quite accurate.”

“He lied?” Robby blinked.

_ Ofcourse he lied, dumbass. And if you hadn’t been so quick to kill him… _

“Not quite.” Castiel said. “They themselves do not know who is pulling the strings. They believe they are holding him captive for their own purposes, but he has been using them for his all along. He might not have his power, but his knowledge and his will are still quite formidable.”

_ Who is he talking about? _

“Chuck...” Dean said, huffing angrily. “Dammit. I knew we should’ve killed him.”

Castiel nodded. “He told them about the All-Key… how to find it. And I believe he plans on using it to release the Shedim.”

“But the All-Key wasn’t there.” Robby said, remembering. “We made records of everything we found in the Magnus Archives. It wasn’t there to begin with.”

“It was.” Cas told him. “But it moved itself the moment Rowena broke the spell. The All-Key wasn’t like the other objects in there. It has additional protections. It was designed to keep moving itself between safe locations every time someone came near it and it’ll keep doing so until it runs out of places to hide. Chuck had its last known location and I do not believe he knows where it is now. But it won’t take him long to figure it out.”

“Perfect!” Sam said, frustrated. “So now it’s a race to see who gets to it first?”

Castiel nodded. 

“And I don’t suppose Jack told you where it is now?” Dean asked. 

“No… but that won’t be of much use to you anyway, since it keeps moving.” Castiel replied, pulling out a small notebook from his pocket. “This will be much more useful.”

“What’s this?” Sam asked, thumbing through it. It looked like a hunter’s manual, full of strange writing and symbols. 

“Spellwork required to create a safe refuge for the All-Key.” Castiel replied. “Rather than tracking it down, it’d be smarter to corner it somewhere you control.”

“What the hell, Cas?” Dean said, taking a peek into the book. “Half this stuff is in some language we don’t even know. He couldn’t write it in english?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Castiel replied. “Best of luck.”

There was a flutter of wings and the angel was gone, leaving them standing by the car. 

“I’ll get started on this, I guess.” Sam said, still flipping through it. “I think I recognize some of the Enochian.”

“We still have that ghost to take care of.” Dean reminded him.

“This is nuts...” Robby said, still in shock and only just realizing how long he’d been quiet. “We’re up against an ex-God?  _ The  _ ex-God? That’s… crazy.”

“Told you our lives were crazy.” Dean said, chuckling. “Still time to get off this ride if you wanna.”

Was that what he wanted? He was afraid, sure. Scared shitless even. But he was also… excited.

“And let you guys have all the fun?” Robby scoffed, opening the trunk and dumping his duffel bag inside. “C’mon, we got work to do.”

**The End.**

**Or do you want more?**


End file.
